Sara Machado
Thank you Random House UK, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The story follows Shirin and Kian, who bump with each other in a party in London, after 10 years without any contact.
Shirin and Kian are both Iranians and were close friends in their last year of school, until something happened that caused their separation. Both characters have complex stories and struggled not only with mental health, as well as with their integration is society, being worth to mention that this haven't affected their ability to work and reach their professional and personal growth.
What I liked about the book:
- Extensive examples of racism in our society
- Diversity representation
- Mental health representation
- Beautiful second chance love story between two strong characters who not only complement each other but bring out the best of themselves.
What I think it could have been done better:
- Mental health is a serious topic that should be threaded carefully. Some people might need to be on medication, and this is ok and should be normalized. However, the decision to stop the medication should be discussed with the doctors and not made in an impulse “if I hit the basket, I stop taking my meds”. This is a dangerous behaviour that should not be incentivized.
- I was not fan of the writing style as everything was portrayed and excessively explained by the narrator to the point it made me feel I wasn't allowed to use my brain to interpret character actions by myself. The story imposes Shirin's opinions and I've felt that, if I eventually disagreed with them, I was just being racist.
- The book is called “People Change” but Shirin doesn't appear to believe anyone can change, any bad thing they've done in the past will be stuck with them forever. I'm not saying she wasn't an abuse victim of racists kids, but my understanding was that they bullied other people as well... We know that one of them went to prison and other was a well-known racist, but Shirin exploded with Tom, with absolutely no knowledge of the person he was at the time. He might still be a racist, but he might as well have been a civilized adult who have grown from being a stupid kid.
Overall, this was a very nice story including a lot of serious and important issues in our society.
3.5 stars rounded up.
This was one of my covid readings and I'm glad I still have Jane Austen novels to entertain me through these times.
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid”
The Northanger Abbey reads a little differently from her other novels as it is a satire of the gothic stories of that time.
The book follows the story of Catherine, an innocent and mostly unremarkable woman, with almost none of the desired attributes of that time, and her coming of age episodes as she enters society in Bath. Later, we see her struggling to make sense of reality with her productive imagination, full of knowledge of her beloved gothic thrillers.
I don't have any knowledge of the gothic novels of the time to be able to comment on that specific sides of the satire. However, as her other works, this book brilliantly discusses the absurdity of society and of the gender roles on that society.
“The advantages of natural folly in a beautiful girl have been already set forth by the capital pen of a sister author; and to her treatment of the subject I will only add, in justice to men, that though to the larger and more trifling part of the sex, imbecility in females is a great enhancement of their personal charms, there is a portion of them too reasonable and too well informed themselves to desire anything more in woman than ignorance.”“But Catherine did not know her own advantages - did not know that a good-looking girl, with an affectionate heart and a very ignorant mind, cannot fail of attracting a clever young man, unless circumstances are particularly untoward.”
Henry Tilney is the wittiest of Austen heros and I loved all his interactions with Catherine. It was a pleasure to read his dialogues.
“And such is your definition of matrimony and dancing. Taken in that light, certainly their resemblance is not striking; but I think I could place them in such a view. You will allow that in both man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal; that in both it is an engagement between man and woman, formed for the advantage of each; and that when once entered into, they belong exclusively to each other till the moment of its dissolution; that it is their duty each to endeavor to give the other no cause for wishing that he or she had bestowed themselves elsewhere, and their best interest to keep their own imaginations from wandering towards the perfections of their neighbors, or fancying that they should have been better off with any one else.”
It was a lovely reading.
P.S - Jane Austen novels always have the best opening and closing lines.
Thank you to NetGalley and Star Bright Books for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
This is a lovely story about a girl who lives in Cuba and dreams about knowing other places and cultures.
Her dream comes true when she finds a message in a bottle, from an old man who dreams about sailing the world. They establish a beautiful pen pall relationship and become friends until today.
I loved that this book is based on a true story and shares little pieces of Cuban culture, such a the Cascos the toranja recipe. The drawings are beautiful and perfectly complement the story.
Arletis still hasn't visit US which serves as a reminder of the impacts of the US embargo.
I recommend this book to children with more than 6 years. It can be a great support to explain different cultures, different political views and regimes and its impacts on its citizens.
O Mandarim é uma novela com carácter fantástico. Acompanha a história de Teodoro, que descobre num livro a história de um Mandarim com uma grande riqueza, à qual ele poderá ter acesso ao tocar numa campainha. Após ceder à tentação, Teodoro apercebe-se que na vida ”só sabe bem o pão ganho com as nossas mãos”
Mandarim é um livro profundamente descritivo e satírico dos vícios e costumes de uma burguesia lisboeta, como o Eça tão bem nos habituou.
Teria melhor nota, não fosse o meu olhar mais atento de 2022 reparar na misoginia da sua escrita, que me escapou na adolescência.
Dirão muitos que não podemos analisar com as lentes de hoje e que tudo é justificado pela visão e experiências da época. Contudo, já muitas mulheres tinham alcançado mais do que este binómio do Eça “mulher cuidadora da família ou cortesã”. Também já haviam sido iniciados movimentos feministas mundo fora (e em Portugal, embora tenha de estudar o tema), a que homens de cultura teriam facilmente conhecimento.
Com tristeza digo que não é um livro para mim.
Lovely book with 30 lullabies, ideal for babies and toddlers. The illustrations are beautiful and perfectly complement each lullaby.
This book finishes my journey through Arrakis.
I was aware of the reviews describing the decreasing quality of the story. Still, after binge reading Dune and Dune Messiah, I couldn't have enough of this world.
It is well written and I did enjoy parts of the book, hence the 3 stars. I've specially enjoyed the further world-building and some of the characters development. However, some of it appear to serve no purpose at all and the ending felt a bit rushed.
It serves the purpose to show the corruption caused by power but I cannot conform myself with the ending.
I wish I've stopped in the second installment.
Happy medium was the perfect mix of funny, heartwarming, and enchanting, all wrapped up with an original plot for the seamless rom-com recipe.
Grenchem was raised to be a con artist and earns her living pretending to speak with ghosts. In an surprising turn of events, she ends up in haunted farm speaking with a real ghost, trying to convince a sceptic tattooed farmed that this time she is telling the true.
I was utterly charmed by Gretchen and Charlie! Their banter was great, and their chemistry was off the charts. I must admit that at some point I was a bit worried with Charlie's behaviour, but he does have a wonderful heart that won me over completely.
Everett was the best character and absolutely steals the show!
I would like to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest an honest review.
P.S: As a former big4 consultant, I feel obliged to defend their honour and tell you that absolutely no one working in Deloitte, PwC, EY or KPMG would ever go to a bar wearing clothes with the company's logo, much less bet $1,000 on whichever... everyone is usually too overworked, and value their hard-earned salary too much.
As a non-native English-speaking family trying to raise their daughter as native, we try to read as much children books in English as possible.
This is an interesting book for 2/3 years old kids. We especially liked the drawings and its colours.
My daughter prefers books where the text is more cohesive or includes some rhymes. Having not turned out to be an immediate favourite, we will certainly re-read it, especially when the fear of the dark appears.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Kit and two friends won the lottery together and each one of them plans to change something in their lives.
This book follows Kit' story: She is an intelligent and accomplished engineer, quite risk averse due to the instability of her family during her formative years.
Kit loves her job, the life she built for herself and her found family. She decides to keep working and buys an old house that needs a lot of fixing up.
Everything in her life is going perfectly until she meets a Ben, who is in the town to help his father, who is recovering from an injury, and recruit her to the corporate world.
I really enjoy Kate's writing, how she includes serious issues on her romances and how her character's work on themselves. This was a great read excluding the miscommunication bit in the end.
There's no shortage of books to teach love to children, but somehow I haven't found yet the one that really made sense to me. Until Love by Corrine Averiss.
Absolutely wonderful! I need this in paper!
Thank you Quarto Publishing Group – words & pictures, words & pictures and Netgalley for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
Crook Manifesto is the second book of the trilogy Ray Carney, which started with Harlem Shuffle.
In this book Colson Whitehead brings us back to Harlem in the 70's, which was at its violence peak. The story is centered around Ray's furniture store and, similarly with the first book, it is told in three interconnected tales.
Ray's furniture story is increasingly successful and has expanded. Everything appears to be on the right track for Ray to make it straight and leave his criminal past behind him. Unfortunately, his daughter's desire to see Jackson Five end up putting Carney on the wrong path again.
Colson is master storyteller, and he is able to tell us, in a beautiful and entertaining way, about African-American history. I'm expectant for the trilogy final book.
I would like to thank Little Brown Book Group UK, Fleet and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The blurb describes this book as a Bridgerton meets twilight, and this transported me immediately to an historical with vampires, which for some reason I discovered I absolutely needed.
It was my mistake, and in reality, the story happens in a contemporary setting and feels more like a cross between twilight and fifty shades of grey.
The characters and world are not too developed, but still it was a fun and fast read.
Read this if you like:
- overprotective, alfa and rich MMC
- Needing virgin FMC
- Dual POV
- Spice
- Vampires
- Fated mates
The book ends up in a light cliffhanger and I'll probably read the second book.
I would like to thank Dialogue Books, Renegade Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
“Dr Heather Winterbottom often joked that she'd fallen half an hour behind on her first day, and forty years later, she was still trying to catch up.” I feel you Dr. Heather! I can only hope it'll take me less than 40 years to be on time
Third and last book of the Chance of a lifetime series and it was my favorite one.
This book follows Greer story after the lottery prize. We already know she returned to school because she wanted to find freedom, we just didn't understand yet why was it the only way to get where she needed. Both MC are complex and have experienced challenging and difficult times and their relationship help them navigate through their issues and find a balance between what they enjoy and dislike on themselves.
I wanted to read Alex POV since the first book and it definitely didn't disappoint.
I was rooting for Greer and Alex since the beginning of the book and, despite knowing there was obviously an HEA, I was aching to see them happy as I couldn't picture two characters who deserved it more.
With Georgie all along and this serie Kate settled herself as one of my favorite romance authors.
I was lucky last year to be invited to read Julie's Soto debut Forget me not and even more lucky to be approved to read this year release, which was not only one of my most awaited releases, but also the one I was convinced it would end my romance slump.
Not Another Love Song is a beautiful story about two musical prodigies, that had faced many challenges, and are lucky to find love, and companionship in each other.
The main characters are too young for my preference, particularly Gwen who is 23, and I'm a strong believer you should not make life altering decisions before 25, when the brain is fully developed. However, Gwen and Alex do belong together and read as they were made for each other, and I LOVED their romance.
This book reads like a symphony, with rhythm changes, tension and resolution. I can see Julie loves and understands music, and that passion was transcribed perfectly in this story.
I was very anxious while reading because I could feel the sheer amount of things that could trigger a 3rd act breakup, which I always hate, and in this particular case I knew it would break my heart almost irreparably. I made peace with it because, as I said before, the characters are very young, and stupid decisions are unavoidable at that age.
I do n0t always mention it, but in this case I absolutely have to: The spice was spicy, beautiful, and I loved it. THE CELLO SCENE... this book is HOT.
It was a privilege to read about this couple and I'll be waiting for more of Soto's books.
Another great title for the little people, Big Dreams collection.
Mozart's biography is written in an appealing way for kids, and it is perfectly complemented with gorgeous illustrations.
The book celebrates Mozart's brilliancy, focusing on his accomplishments and on the good parts of his life. It also mentions his sister talent and how her career ended, as she needed to fulfill the expected role of women.
Overall, a lovely and short biography, appropriate for all ages.
I would like to thank Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Como está escrito na contra capa do livro, por alguém a quem gostaria de atribuir os créditos, “Cartas à minha filha é um livro que não se explica, que não se resume. É uma voz vertida no papel, que nos envolve, aquece e guia.
I discovered Katee Robert with the Dark Olympus series. Although I was not a fan of those books, I was curious with Hunt on Dark Waters and I was lucky to receive an e-ARC of the book.
I've found this book a lot better than I was expecting. The setting is interesting and includes a large amount of magical and mythological creatures, it has a good queer representation and delivers on its promise: pirate smut!
I was not a fan of Evelyn, who is the typical feisty FMC we are getting used to read about nowadays, but I loved Bowen and his golden retriever pirate vibe.
I seriously don't know where these authors come up with ideas.. the different uses of telekinetic powers would have never crossed my mind, but I liked it!
I do believe there are things that could have improved the story, turning this into a better romantasy, namely, some more insights into Evelyn and Bowen pasts through flashbacks (I'm particularly interested in Bunny's perspective/ knowledge), deeper development of the world and more interactions with the secondary characters.
Overall it was a fun, fast and sexy read. I'm interested in continue the series.
3.5 ⭐️
Read this is you like:
- Pirates, Witches, Vampires
- Insta love
- Golden retriever MMC
- Spice
- Easy, but interesting world building
- Monsters
I would like to thanks Random House UK, Cornerstone, Del Rey and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was blessed with a a daughter who does not like to sleep. When I heard a mother with two kids saying that this book put them both to sleep, and that they loved it, I bought it immediately!
Guess what? It kind of works! If I don't fall asleep first, I only have to read it twice every night.
The story is cute, the drawings are wonderful, my kids love it and they sleep after.
Thank you kind stranger!
100% recommended
I grew up fascinated by Egypt culture, wanting to be an archeologist and wishing I could ever find some artifacts on an undiscovered tombe. While this couldn't be farther from my life, the fascination remains, which made picking up this book a no brainer.
What the River knows is an historical fantasy/mystery set in the wonderful Egypt, during the British occupation.
We follow Inez, an Argentinean 19 year old girl, curious, adventurous and fierce, who despite being quite privileged, is avid for affection as her parents, year after year, choose to live in Egypt without her. A terrible accident changes the course of her life, setting Inez on a perilous journey for the truth.
Isabel Ibanez writing is beautiful and immersive, and she makes a wonderful job of making the reader feel the appeal of Egypt's life at the time. We are easily transported from the Cairo's markets, sensing the chaos and smells, to the dark and dusty temples full of undiscovered treasures. We feel the dirt on our clothes, the magic on our skin and full range of emotions with the story development.
Inez is a great character, although a bit too trusting and naive. I was surprised by the inclusion of Whit's POV, and I must confess I'm very curious about his past. I can't get enough of him and desperately need more details of his life.
I loved the secondary characters and my main complaint is that I wish they were a bit more developed and that we had more of them.
The story is exciting, and although I was expecting the route it was taking, it kept me interested throughout the book. We get nowhere near a conclusion, and we are left wanting more, as the story ends in a major cliffhanger.
What the River knows is a nice start to a new series and should appeal all YA readers. I believe it would be a favorite for Rebecca Ross fans.
I would like to thank Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Delphine dies, and when she meets the one in the afterlife, she is given the opportunity to return to earth and find him. If he kisses her, she gets to stay.
This book is adorable, it really is. Delphine is a bit too quirky for me, but I loved everything else.
The story has a great cast of characters, it's lighthearted and fun.
It's the true definition of a romcom! Absolutely recommended for the fans of the genre.
I would like to thank Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
P.S - This review is very short because I believe the less you know about this book the better. It was a nice surprise for me, and it wouldn't have worked so well if I knew more details than the ones given in the blurb.
2023:
I had enough of fake accounts invites. Please stop! This is not the way to advertise your book.
February 2024 update:
It's been awhile but apparently the author did not learn the lesson and insists the way to promote this book is to force friend invites to everyone active on Goodreads.
[a:Bruis Cabilio|42470890|Bruis Cabilio|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], I will keep reporting every single account that has this book on the shelves.
At least memorize my face and leave me alone! I'm here to make bookish friends, share my thoughts and read other people opinions about books. I don't promote books unless I think they deserve to be promoted, and I won't do it if the author keeps harassing me with friend invites.
I would like to thank Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, Pinkity Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Come as you are was a refreshing romance read as it features Ashley, a 46 divorced snow resort owner, and Madigan, a 53 year old guitarist, recovering addict and owner of a recovering house for ex-cons and addicts.
The story includes heavy topics such as grief, substances abuse and the difficult reintegration of ex-cons in society. Despite the difficult topics, it is a heartwarming read as, in its essence, it is a story about forgiveness, acceptance and second chances in life.
Older couple's romance books are a rarity. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about it because love has no age, and romance books should not have too.
Bonus points for the 90's playlist!
Tales from Tiressia is everything the title describes: A Collection of Spicy stories from the Witch Walker World, involving some of our most beloved characters.Even though I prefer the spicy side of life to be more tempered with plot, it was amazing to be able to reconnect with this world. Plus, I want any scraps I can get of Raina and Alexus until [b:Kingdom of the Forgotten 63853061 Kingdom of the Forgotten (Witch Walker, #4) Charissa Weaks https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1693921407l/63853061.SY75.jpg 99799820] is released.Thank you Charissa Weaks for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for an honest review. My thoughs are my own
I was hooked enough with the first book to start immediately the second, and let me tell you: we'll need to wait for the third book to get the pay-off.
The second book of the series is still full of pinning and angst. We get a bit more of the beautiful world Sylvia has crafted, and a little more knowledge of what it is happening.
The story is woven in a way we keep being uncertain about whom is on each side. There are two persons who are clearly part of the bad guys, but I cannot tell regarding the rest of the troldes.
As the story progresses, I wish a lot of things didn't happened, and I don't feel they added much to the story. We could have had a forbidden romance without a lot of what happened on the first book, which might be triggering to a lot of people.
The fantasy side is quite interesting, and because of that, I wish there was a greater balance between action and romance.
The last 30% of the book were quite exciting, and the ending left me curious enough to want to wait for the third book. Also, I need to see the pay-off to recover from the anxiety these characters are causing me.