Andrea Ward
I liked the twist and the horror that came from this. I liked the character of Annaleigh. We really see the struggle that she has throughout the book. The ending was not my favorite, but I don't hate it. It did seem to take awhile to get to the horror part as well. I am interested to read the next one.
Sisters, blind double dates, murder, and red herrings! This book had everything I could want. I really liked getting to spend more time with Ellie and Meg in this one. I thought for sure I knew who the murder was a couple times, but I was wrong every time. Ellie has found herself in an odd love triangle and I can't wait to see what happens next with that one.
Great setting, good mystery, and good romance. Everything that a cozy should be.
This is the perfect spooky book to start October with!
I love the mixed media aspect of this. It emphasizes that someone in the story is lying, but who and why?
The gates and the road and the secrets and the history! Wow, I did not see the twists coming. There is horror, but also relationship struggles, grief, guilt and more. The ending is not my favorite, but maybe I am missing something.
Being in the head of the narrator is a wild experience in this book. As Ines struggles with who she is, what she will do, and what she has done, we also struggle with that. As she struggles to find truth, we struggle. As such there is not a lot of action. Where there could have been action, there was a mild statement because Ines is not telling the story linearly. I liked being in her head and approaching the story as a series of memories, but that style is not for everyone.
This book was so good! I was drawn into the world and Tempe's story right away. It took me a bit to warm up to Lor, but by the end he might be my favorite. I loved the mission that the sisters were on, but I would have liked a little more diving. It did basically start and end with diving, which was very appropriate. The end was hard and I don't know how I feel about it. It is going to stick with me.
These sisters are the cutest! They each have their own personality and struggles. Romance is never easy and neither is being a teenager. However there is no drawn out unnecessary drama. The things that are happening are a part of these characters growing and learning. I liked that this felt like 4 different novellas, so we got to spend time with each one of the sisters.
This was a great beginning to a series! Delaney is getting to know Scotland, her coworkers, her landlords, and a cute guy. Because she feels for these people she wants to solve the mystery. The solution was a little out of the blue, but we did only have so many pages and had to get to know people and places also. I can't wait to read more in this series and find out what else is happening at this unusual bookstore.
I don't normally read romance, but I took a chance on this one. I am so glad I did! Briana and Jacob are fantastic characters and their relationship is not overly dramatic. They are each dealing with things and there are misunderstandings, but they aren't trying to actively keep things from one another. They grow as people and as a couple in realistic ways.
The side characters are amazing. And really add a layer of fun and support to the story.
I just loved living in this world with them!
The fat rep, the trauma rep, and the real-life escape room vibes shine in this book. The story is layered because people are layered. The maze is complicated because feelings are complicated. The characters speaking about their past and coming to terms without was so real. And the fact they are doing this to get out of a supernatural corn maze is just the perfect horrific addition. I love Sarah Hollowell books!
The way Bryony is trapped in the house is more clever than many other Beauty and the Beast stories. It seems to me that there is a deeper backstory. We don't get all of it, but the bits we get are impactful and help us see the whole narrative. There are some dark parts as well that makes this more than just a fairytale. And the ending is so T Kingfisher. With another author it could have felt ridiculous, but it is just perfect with T Kingfisher.
At the beginning there is definitely language and attitudes that should be used carefully. I think the author is trying to make a point about the characters and make them unlikeable. Later in the book we see those same characters through a bit of a different lens. So they are harder to not like. I like that they are complicated characters. However I was confused about how we should feel about the faeries then. If the people are judgmental and complicated based on their racist bias, then how do the faeries foot in? Are they a non human entity that puts people in danger or are they a stand in for groups that are seen as less than human? If it is the first the message of the book is fine if clumsily done. If it is the second, thorn the book is offensive. So the story is good, but the language and attitudes distract from that story.
We see Aki and her family back in LA and trying to find how to settle down into LA again after their exile during WWII. There is a mystery to solve as well as a life and marriage to settle into, so we live life with Aki while solving the mystery. Hirahara always mixes life, societal issues, and mystery to create excellent books.
I liked the feeling that the author evokes with the setting and the mystery, but the pacing feels slow. So I alternately felt excited to read it and get back to that world, then bored because it was moving slowly. There were also parts that were a little too one the nose about the ‘inspiration' for the TV show. The end was fairly satisfying, but some of the larger concepts around the ending were a little too nebulous.
If you like vibes and nebulous danger, you would really like this one.
