Kristie
I do believe I mentioned my love for London Lovett? Here we have the second story in the series. It's summer, we have some famous romance novelists coming to town and someone is going to end up murdered- by ice cream cone. As always, there are other things going on in Anna's life. We get a little more Cora time in this one and Anna and Nate are getting chummy. So cute.
The Z Word is a wild ride. It was just the story I needed at the exact moment I got my mitts on it. I enjoyed the hell out of it. What's poor Wendy to do when there is an outbreak during Pride of an infection that turns people into, well, zombies? Well, she could form a gang with a drag queen, Beau, Aurelia, and her ex, Leah, and try not to get bitten.
Add in a pizza delivery person driving around in a pizza delivery van designed by Mad Max and an evil beverage company and you have some idea of how wild and wacky this will get. The Z Word is also surprisingly sweet and has some moments I would love to see come alive on the big screen.
Maybe someday.
It's important to note that the copy of this book that I read was just gorgeous. It was hardback and fit in the hand perfectly, and each chapter started with an actual lotería image and ended with the image of the back of the card (if that makes sense).
Something horrible happened and Luz in in a children's home. Her aunt does not have legal status enough to take custody of her. Luz refuses to speak to anyone but God, who she writes to in her secret journal. She is alone in a room with her journal and the lotería cards.
I lost patience at about 80% when we still really didn't know what was going on. And then we find out and the Luz we thought we knew starts acting very out of character. I was most confused by what happened to the aunt.
Overall I still think it was fantastic, it just needed something to cut the tension.
I normally don't count graphic novels in my yearly total. To be fair, many only take me a few minutes to read. But, The High Desert is epic and wonderful and I took my time with it. It was also heavy, so I decided not to lug it around and could only read it when I was set up in one place.
It's gorgeous and wonderful and awful and should be on everyone's reading list. It's about punk, for sure, but if punk isn't your thing, don't let that stop you from reading this. What it really is about is being a part of something bigger than yourself and finding your own way in life. Being true to who you are on the inside. It's an understatement that James had to deal with some shit. In an age, I remind everyone, where there were NO ADULTS there to run to. In fact, involving the adults in any way would only escalate the situation. Gen X. It's why we are like this.
I need to go watch the documentary now.
This is a short, powerful little tale that boggles the mind and also takes you to a time in history and really brings it alive. Overall, it reads like a short story, but there are some really strong voices here. I recommend saving this one for a quiet evening, a lap blanket and a cat and reading it in one sitting. I had a similar experience with [b:Clear 176443690 Clear Carys Davies https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1686502013l/176443690.SY75.jpg 183066038]. I look forward to reading more from this author.
I love London Lovett. I read something of her's last year, I'm blanking on it, and I've been meaning to get back to her. I was totally in the mood for a good cozy mystery so I started fresh with the Frostfall Island series.
After an initial head scratching moment in which we meet Anna St. James and we are told she had already solved mysteries and has a reputation for being the person to go to when a crime has been committed, and I had to check five times that I indeed had volume number one, I just settled into it.
I love kooky side characters, and a great many of them either live in the b&b or on the island.
In this one an actor is killed during a pirate battle reenactment. Anna is also dealing with a new tenant at the b&b who is acting suspiciously.
So, this is awesome, and I had ordered number 2 before I even finished this one.
Usually when I read a short story collection, I review each story individually. And I have to confess, I haven't been doing very well with the short story collections lately. And then I picked up The Missing Morningstar.
From the very first story, I was hooked. The title story is also fantastic.
I'm so glad I own this and look forward to reading more from this author.
Another winner of a graphic novel. How often do we see older, queer protags in a graphic novel? Not often!
Here we meet Kumiko. Death has come for Kumiko, but guess what? She doesn't want to go and she will outsmart the little evil minions of death around every bend.
But Kumiko is getting older, her body is failing her and she may need to lean on an old friend for support. What she doesn't want to do is involve her kids-because they will send her back to the senior care home.
More like 4.5 stars
I loved Shutter because I fell in love with Rita Todacheene. While I think Exposure can be read on its own, I highly recommend starting with Shutter because the events in the first book highly impact what is happening in the second.
Emerson ratchets the danger up another 50% in the sequel. Not only is Rita still recovering from the events in Shutter she faces a new foe, Father Gabriel and he is full of evil. It's hats off to Emerson's writing for making me care about a villain. I truly emphasized with him (at some points).
If you were in love with Gran and Mr. Bitsilly as much as I was in the first book, you will glad to see them come around again.
Exposure is a smart, slightly scary, propulsive thriller and just as good, if not a pinch better than Shutter.
Thank you to Edelweiss Plus and Soho Crime for an advance look in exchange for an honest review.
Exposure will be published on October 1, 2024.
Short, sweet and powerful. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. John, a young minister, has been hired to visit a remote island to evict Ivar, the tenant. Despite not speaking the same language, they find a way to communicate. At the same time, we are with John's wife Mary who has a feeling something has gone wrong and she's on her way to save him. This is one of those reads that stays with you a long time after reading it. Note to self: I have [b:West 35297141 West Carys Davies https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504001539l/35297141.SY75.jpg 56664001] by this author as well.
A short novel about 4 characters who meet and one day in their lives together. This would make a wonderful, powerful stage play. I loved Leni, who is just over her father and his traveling preacher bit. The sad part is that he really believes everything coming out of his mouth. We get the back stories on all of these characters and they have all been abandoned or separated from a parent.
The climax involves a big storm (literally) and a bit storm of emotions.
It seems ridiculous to give a 3 hour audiobook less than 5 stars, but I grew annoyed with reverend's preaching.
I cannot wait to read more Almada.
I like my romance novels to have SOMETHING going on besides the romance. And Victor and Amy are cute but they kind of come together quickly, enjoy it, do the last-minute-panic- and- break -up thing and then get back together in a super cute way that would fit comfortably in a movie.
BUT that is not why I loved this story. First, I almost never read stories in which a small town girl finally escapes to the big city and doesn't have something horrible happen to her. It's as if every story like this must serve as a warning for people to stay where they are, learn to love it, don't wish for something bigger or you will die!
This could be a travelogue of Toronto. If it wasn't already really high on my list of places to visit, it would be on there now. I mean, Amy embraces this change with both arms and nothing bad happens to her. She is also comfortable in her body and with her personality. Can I express how refreshing this was to read? Big exhale. Yay! A woman who loves her new life! And herself! This is amazing because she comes from one of the least supportive families ever.
I also loved Sierra and I may jump ahead and read her book next.
I am finally getting to this. I've read almost everything else by LaValle (I'm a big fan). I do believe I only have [b:Big Machine 6488057 Big Machine Victor LaValle https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348774112l/6488057.SY75.jpg 6679435] and [b:The Ecstatic 849696 The Ecstatic Victor LaValle https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320495521l/849696.SY75.jpg 835208] to go. I started watching the show on Apple + and it leaves off on a giant cliffhanger, so here we are. This is tough story. No one wants to read about bad things happening to babies, but this is a fairy tale that takes place in a world very similar to our own. It's on the same level as Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (London) or NK Jemisin's The City We Became (also New York City). Fantastic.
More like 3.75, I loved the writing but this book should have been about 100 pages shorter.
Riko is trying to score the biggest interview of her career with convicted killer Manako Kajii- a food blogger who is in jail for murdering her older, rich boyfriends. Riko is trying to be successful in a world in which women cannot get the highest office AND have a family. Women must conform to most of society's standards, and they must be thin. Manako opens Riko's eyes to another way of being, but one that landed Manako in prison.
I loved Yuzuki's writing. I loved the small details she picked up on and I loved learning about contemporary life in Tokyo. I didn't mind the descriptions of food and specific dishes.
What I didn't love is the sheer length of this book. We didn't need Reiko's side quest when she goes all Nancy Drew. I super didn't care about Riko's friends with benefits situation with Makoto. The novel even seems to run out of steam explaining the appeal trial.
There was mad sexual attraction between Riko and Reiko that was never addressed.
I loved the ending and the ideas behind the ending.
Just don't do into this with an expectation of Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham story. I am a little guilty of that.
It took me a minute to get into this, and I did, but I had a reoccurring problem with the idea that a woman is so upset she turns into a forest and much of the book is about how the men feel about it. Case in point, the first chapter is from the pov of the husband's editor. This so derails him that he starts cheating on his wife and ultimately has to change departments at the company. And I am left wondering: what about Rui?
The second chapter is from the pov of the woman cheating with the writer. The third about the new editor. Now the book picks up a bit because the new editor is young and female and she's asking the correct questions. There are also some big ideas introduced here about males and females and society.
Chapter 4. I don't want to talk about Chapter 4.
And then, finally, we get Rui in Chapter 5. Again, big philosophical questions are being brought up: what is love, what role do lovers need to play, etc. I mean, this should have been the whole book!
And then it ends and I'm not sure any lessons were learned and no one seems any happier- not that I needed a happy ending, I just wanted to see growth in these characters. I mean outside of developing foliage.
I was interested enough to keep reading, but I was left pretty unsatisfied.
A big thank you to Edelweiss Plus and Penguin Random House for an advanced peek at the new Dawson book. Of course, it is also your fault that I was trapped in a chair for 6 hours. You see, I popped the book open to make sure it loaded correctly and wham!I could not put this down. I'd recently discovered Dawson last month when I read [b:Bloom 78627220 Bloom Delilah S. Dawson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1697552294l/78627220.SX50.jpg 103796795] (also a 5 Star read for me). It's time to eat the rich, my friends. Dez is a smart, talented fashion designer who just needs an “in”. She creates one by dating the son of a major fashion publication. He is the worst, but she's willing to put up with a lot to get 5 minutes with his mother. She scores an invite to the family's island for a family event. A whole weekend to woo her idol. It sounds like heaven. I was going to stay spoiler-free here, but what happens next is in the book's description. It still does not prepare you for the events that happen. Guillotine makes The Menu and Hide and Seek look like Disney movies. It's like a well-oiled revenge machine! I love how Delilah Dawson's mind works, I am also a little afraid of her. Well done!
More like 3.5 stars.
Hornclaw is 65 and still on the job. That's not unusual. What is unusual is that she is an assassin. Most interesting to me was her relationship with her elderly dog, Deadweight, and the history of the “disease control specialists”. When her past comes back to haunt her (well, to kill her) she has to get to the bottom of it.
This was just okay. It wasn't sweet enough to be cute. It wasn't violent enough to be a real thriller. It has revealing things to say about how we treat our elderly.
That said, I feel like there are many cozy mystery series doing the same thing already and I've probably accidentally read a lot of those so none of this was new ground for me-except that we are in Korea.
Dreamy, weird and held my attention.
Jo has arrived in a foreign (very English-sounding) country to attend school. She ends up rooming with a Carrol, in an old brewery that has sort of been turned into an apartment house. They used particle board to separate the rooms (and it doesn't go all the way to the ceiling). Not sound-proof at all. There is a neighbor I'm not sure actually existed.
Either the women start experiencing some sort of magical transformation (the brewery is becoming a garden) OR they are having shared delusions. Either way, I had no idea what was going to happen next and read this in one sitting.
This absolutely would have been a five star read had it been about 100 pgs shorter. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed hearing about how they made it to Canada and the life they had built for themselves, but shorter.
Lacey Bond's parents are hippies who run a daycare center and who fall victim to the Satanic Panic of the 90's being accused of torturing and sexually abusing children under their care. This story belongs to Lacey and her friend, Dylan. This is the fallout for children mixed up in a world in which the adults have gone off the rails.
I almost DNF'd when we met Lacey's sister, Eclair (I kid you not) but I loved Honor Girl and wanted to tough this out. Then I fell in love with the story. I was completely onboard until the last couple of hundred pages. At that point, I thought the story had just gone on too long.
I don't understand the character of Gwen. I understand the trauma, I understand the background, I just wonder because her behavior is very strange and very immature. The scene, for example, in which Gwen meets Lacey's mother at the door and takes the jar of honey that has been brought as a housewarming gift and proceeds to smear it across her own face. Strange, strange behavior.
I still recommend this highly. The main story is fantastic and I really did enjoy the peek into the gay rights movement in Montreal. I was just exhausted by the time it wrapped up.
Whelp, I couldn't put this down. I went into it warned: it's not a normal mystery and do not expect answers. Lemon is a set of interlocking stories about 3 people left behind after the murder of a teenage girl named Hae-on. One is the rival pretty girl. One is a school mate, and the third voice is her younger sister, Da-on.
This murder changes the course of everyone's lives in big and small ways. Da-on spends years trying to replace her sister by becoming her. Taerim marries a prime suspect in the murder (and was a witness that night) and it has changed her life in not so positive ways. Through Sanghui's eyes we can see the changes in Da-on.
It's a short, powerful book. I did throw together what I think is a solid answer to two of the books mysteries, but I'll keep it to my self.
It took me a minute to get into this, but I did. I was fascinated. Our unnamed narrator is STUCK. An algae has taken over the sea off the coast where she lives, making residents sick. Most of them have fled, everyone who has stayed lives by the “alarm” trying to keep the toxic cloud from getting into their homes. Food is scarce. They are living on jars of pink slime produced by the local meat factory. She spends her days visiting her emotionally devoid mother, and her ex-husband at the clinic. She is paid a large amount of money to nanny a child, Mauro, with a syndrome in which he is perpetually hungry and must be watched 24/7.
Sometimes you read a book in which the main purpose of the story is to be a witness. This is what happened to this woman, in this time, while dealing with this end of the world event. It is possible she has suffered so much as this point it has rendered her immobile. Part of me was screaming for her to escape, part of me wanted her to stay so I could see what would happen right up to the very last second. I got my wish.
Highly recommend.
We are back with Cara and she has new info on the case of her husband and son. Tied to the mystery is Ellie (from Point Mettier) and a young woman named Mia who grew up in a village hidden away from the world. A village where abused women and their children can live in peace.
There was a ton of action in this book, never a dull moment. My book club really enjoyed City Under One Roof, and I was glad to read more from this author.
I was very in the mood for exactly this story, so it hit perfectly.
This is one of the most terrifying things I have read in awhile and it is aimed at teens, but the dread and tension are so very thick!
Sophie's best friend dies and she is shipped off to Scotland to the Isle of Skye to stay with cousins. There is Cameron (16) a child prodigy on the piano who can no longer play as his hand was damaged in a fire. Piper (15) the same age as Sophie and Lilias (8 or 9)? Missing is Rebecca who died 8 or 9 years ago when she froze to death on one of the cliffs, with a frozen charlotte in her hand.
Frozen Charlottes are porcelain dolls that were popular in the victorian era. It's also the name of a famous folk ballad about a lady named Charlotte who refused to wear her coat and cover her dress so she freezes to death on the ride to the ball.
Loved this.
Who knew? I have a new favorite genre: cottagecore horror. And this book is perfect.
It's weird and wonderful. Trigger warning for animal cruelty.
We have charcuterie boards, plants, farmers' markets, and gross nail clippings. This is weirdly violent and full of passion and I loved every minute of reading it. The dread hits on the first page and does not let up. I was equally fascinated and grossed out at the same time.