Alicia
Read this is if you're looking for a nice, cozy place to escape to filled with tea, friends, raspberry jam, talking plants, and tea (of course). I loved that there was enough of a backstory for Kiela that I could see where she was coming from and understand her struggles. While I wish there might have been more exploration of some of the other characters and their histories, this book read exactly like it wanted to: a warm hug.
[Read this book while delirious from Covid, which was perfect.]
This book was so chaotic and savage. I loved it, obviously.
But it's not just a takedown of the confused white people trying to publish “diverse” books; it's about the whole damn machine.
It's like you want to root for someone but you keep searching and searching and find that no, no one is likeable, actually. And by no one I'm also including The Publishing Industry. I'm still thinking about this and what it all means.
This book was an absolute masterpiece. The hype is real. O'Farrell's prose is so exact, fluid, and beautiful that I felt like I was buoyed along in the life of a 16th century family that could also be the life of any family today. Shakespeare, a near mythical being, is so desperately human here, his name never once being mentioned but hovering over everything. And the character of Agnes is so powerful and stunningly wrought that the two are equal pillars of this story. I don't know what else to say except read it!
As with the previous book in this serious, Tilly and her friend, Oskar, make a great duo to follow in their adventures (literally) through the book world and, as in this case, the wild world of fairy tales. The magic and world system is fascinating and definitely cozy with a heavy emphasis on Anglo-centric, Western classic children's literature and fairy tales. Overall, I found it a lighthearted, fun read, perfect for a cozy winter afternoon in.
“There is no limit to what the heart can carry.”
This is a sweet tale of witches and Simply Enormous Dragons and swamp monsters who love poetry and an eleven year old girl made magic by moonlight. So sweet and compelling, this was a charming fairy tale perfect for days you need a little extra warmth in your life.
From being inspired to move to Paris by Flaubert's Parrot, to starting a book blog after reading How To Be A Woman, this gentle, cozy book reaffirmed for me the unique magic of a reader's life. Told as a kind of bookish memoir with topical recommendations at the end of each chapter, I ate this up rather quickly and was left with a desire to 1) read all the books!, 2) move to Cornwall, and 3) open up a bookshop. My one caveat is that the author's reading recommendations skewed pretty Anglo- and European-centric. Overall, it was an enjoyable book about books.
I don't think I have ever read a series conclusion book as mighty as this one. It does what all good series enders should do which is not just wrap up all the story lines and plot points, but cap off a story that has gotten better and better in each telling and which does each and every character the justice they deserve. I cried, I laughed, I glared, and sometimes read the same sentence over and over and over because it was that good and I didn't want to forget. If you're finishing the series, or debating whether to start it, all I can say is that it is definitely a journey, it will change you, as any good story does, and it is utterly worth it. Thank you, Sabaa, for these incredible characters and this incredible story.
This book is intense, brutal, bloody, and haunting. Nature and history meld and time overlaps as the past catches up to these characters in the worst, most literal way. Jones writes with such velocity and movement that you just get swept away in the story, kind of like the unstoppable, building cycle of violence these characters have tumbled into. And yet, somehow, Jones threads just enough hope in there, too. Quite a work.
“When the forest is hungry, feed it.”
This book is a badass, Puritan-adjacent, feminist horror romance story. I absolutely devoured it over a few nights in October and I think it may be one of my favorite books of the year. This book was EVERYTHING I needed this year and I can't wait to reread it. Thank you, Alexis Henderson!
This book was such an enchanting breath of fresh air! I loved the simple, charming, utterly delightful fairy tale magic of this book. I loved the journeys of the characters and the ending and couldn't help the smile on my face reading this. I mean, there's an enchanted wood, a gardener's daughter with strange magic, a mysterious fox, a lost prince, a magical bear... What else do you need? Absolute treasure!
Thank you to NetGalley and Balzer + Bray for the review copy!
So.....I basically finished this in one sitting. I mean. I. MEAN. We have tortured Bastien and his cheekbones, Mademoiselle Celine Rousseau who's sick of everyone's shit, a cadre of also tortured, also sexy, steamy, vampires and their (probably amazing but not specifically mentioned) cheekbones. I MEAN! The plot was so fast paced and the world-building so exquisite I just couldn't put it down for one second. I also enjoyed the introduction and exploration of more creatures and a maybe evil? Lady Galadriel the Mysterious whose intentions and powers are unknown but super intriguing. This felt like the set up to even more sexysteamy vampiric adventures and some epic machinations/supernatural wars. I can't WAIT to see what happens next!
Combining the tales of Rappaccini's Daughter, Rapunzel, and (the author says) Sleeping Beauty, with Persian folklore and royal history, this book is about a girl with a curse trying to figure out what it all means and how to save her kingdom. I found it to be an entertaining YA fantasy, heavy on the fairy tale aspect, and so perfect for fans of all the above!
Mexican Gothic is the story of Noemi Taboada, a young socialite in 1950s Mexico City who is called out to the countryside to check on her cousin after a disturbing, strange letter. This marvelous, slow burn of a book steadily builds the pressure and tension as the reader follows Noemi's growing sense of disorientation and horror. I loved the haunted manor, creepy family, and local legends that all play together in such a way that you (and the main character) slowly realize nothing is at seems. I could NOT put this down until the last page!
Briana has been through a lot. After suffering a tragic personal loss she starts early college at her dream school, UNC. She quickly discovers, though, everything is not as it seems. In a true remixing of the King Arthur legend, Briana is thrown into a fascinating world of demons, magic, first romance, and friendship. From Bree's first encounter with the supernatural, to her discovery of the true power that lives within her, I was hooked! I literally read the last pages of the book standing up, I was so excited!
This story is SO unique and Tracy Deonn situates it firmly in the contemporary American South.
Bree deals with everything from fighting demons to secret societies and systemic racism. I love that Deonn did not shy away from these realities and the book was stronger for it. If you love stories about magic, strong, complex characters, and/or secret societies, you will LOVE this. HIGHLY recommend! 1000 stars!
This is how it started, with a sister weeping in her bed, a child so terrified she sold herself to a thief, a girl so lovely, the world went to war to possess her.
I never thought I could see a mashup of Les Mis, The Jungle Book, Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Six of Crows, but here it is. And it is not for the faint of heart. Eponine (Nina) has learned, at great personal cost, how to navigate the gritty Parisian underworld, the Court of Miracles, to survive. When her adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie), comes under threat, she will do everything in her power to keep her safe.
This is a story rich in atmosphere. It's gritty, grisly, smoke filled, and full of heart. I loved all the nods to Les Miserables and the Jungle Book, but Nina and the others are fully formed, fierce characters separate from those stories. The world here is rich and complex and I'm excited to see what's next for our cast of characters. If you're looking for something dark and different that will take you on a wild journey, read this book.
At times frustrating (why can't the characters just do what I want??), heartrending (Helene! Elias!), thrilling, and romantic, this sequel book always kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the pages at lightning speed. If you're into adventure, romance, a little bit of magic, and captivating political twist and turns, you should definitely check this out. I can't wait (but am also afraid to) to see where these characters go next!
What. A. Book. I wasn't sure I would even read this because I had such a hard time connecting with the first in the series but blood and bone did I love this one. We pick up with our cast of characters after the devastating events at the end of the first book. The connection I had been looking for with Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz in the first book that had felt weak, immediately sucked me in and I was fully invested in their journey. This book had everything I had been looking for in the series. There's wild, dark magic, battles with ancient gods and goddesses, torturous romance, and high, high stakes, that kept me hooked the whole way through. This book will break your heart, put it back together, and break it all over again--in the best way possible! Not for the faint of heart.
“I felt like an explorer at the precipice of some new, wild world, armed only with ink and hope.”
As a child I was always looking for doors. Doors in closets, doors in forests, magic doors that would take me to Narnia, to Wonderland, to Hogwarts... This book is for all those wanderers and searchers like me. This is the story of a girl named January. A girl who doesn't fit in to her starched-white New England world, who is also always looking for the magic she's told again and again is not real, or at least not for her. It's also the tragic story of her father and her mother. Of the family she makes, the boy she loves, her best-friend dog, and the journey she goes on. To say more would be to spoil it utterly.
Reading this book was like sitting in front of a warm fire. I cried, I laughed, and I cried again. This is probably one of, if not the, best books I have read all year. Do yourself a favor and open it for yourself.