Published by: Tor Books Publication Date: 26 Apr 2022 Genre: Fantasy Pages: 245 Source: NetGalley Date Read: 23 Mar 2022 Thank you NetGalley, T. Kingfisher and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc.
I loved this book so so much. It has a bone dog (wish I could make one of my own), magical godmothers, women who can raise the dead, and a sweet slow burn romance. I finished this one way too quickly and now feel ejected out of a world that I wish I could live in a little bit longer.
Other books read by this author:
Thornhedge A House With Good Bones Nettle and Bone What Moves the Dead
Published by: Gallery/Scout Press Published Date: 26 Apr 2022 Genre: Mystery & Thrillers Pages: 338 Source: NetGalley Date Read: 18 Mar 2022 Thank you NetGalley, Jennifer McMahon, and Gallery Books for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc.
This is a slow burn mystery alternating between two separate timelines, 1970's and 2019, and told mainly between Vi and Lizzy's viewpoint. I personally found wanting to skim through Vi's (1970's) timeline and get back to the present day story. There was a lot more description and telling in the earlier story line.
Speaking of telling, there was a lot of obvious clues as to the ending strewn throughout the whole book. Really obvious clues. I'm not complaining though as this was still an entertaining read.
Published by: Tor Nightfire Publication Date: 12 Jul 2022 Genre: Fantasy Pages: 165 Source: NetGalley Date Read: 17 Feb 2022 I have been a fan of T. Kingfisher for a few books now and this book just strengthens the feeling. There's a scene in which a rabbits lung is described and it was one of my first thoughts this morning. That image and what it would mean if it happened to me... first thing upon waking up makes my brain feel weird.
I really enjoyed the main character's point of view and the jabs at Americans. I kind of wish the story were longer.
Other books read by this author:
Thornhedge A House With Good Bones Nettle and Bone What Moves the Dead
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this story very much. I don't know if it's because I was also reading "The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep" at the same time, but I at moments felt a really deep connection with Mercy and could visualize Mercy's Farm and the feeling of joining her on her couch to read. Anyway, it's a good tale of overcoming loss and finding what it is to learn to love oneself and allowing others into your life. Not so much horror, though.... I would have loved it if La Llorona were a little more present in the story. Published by: BooksGoSocial Published Date: 25 Aug 2021 Genre: Horror Pages: 135 Source: NetGalley Date Read: 17 Feb 2022
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-arc. All opinions are my own. When I first saw this title, I was pretty excited to request it. I had enjoyed "The Pale Orphan of Cemetery Hill". Matter of fact, it had broken me from a reading slump. So when I was approved for this one, I made it the next book on my tbr. I didn't like it. I couldn't care less for the characters. This story is told in two separate timeliness, 1880's and present day. Margaret lives in the 1880's and is the wild child of a prosperous New England family. She is also a witch who falls in love and becomes pregnant. I couldn't stand her character and found her to be an annoying know it all. Then there's Augusta. A flat, boring character that was written as we should pity her, but I found her insufferable. She goes on for chapters about how she is just staying with her boyfriend because it was convenient, but after she finally decides to go, tells the new crush how much of a manipulator he was. It was all talk and no show for her character. There was nothing spooky about this book.
Published by: Harlequin Trade Publication Date: 01 Feb 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 320 Source: NetGalley Date Read: 22 Sep 2021
This is hands down the best book I have read this year. I loved it so much! There's so much story and adventure packed into this book, that by the midway point, it felt that other books would have just been ending. There is not a single bit of boring storytelling in this, and I found myself really taking the time to imagine the scenes (I know it's sort of lazy I guess when I don't, but in other fantasies I have read it's just tedious).
I had started reading this after trying to read two other popular fantasies and being immediately put off by the main character being eighteen years old. I get it, YA is having a time right now and that's great, but I wanted a story where the heroes are my age and this book was it. It is so refreshing to read a book this good, in the fantasy genre, that had characters in their thirties/forties!
The story is about five friends who have already saved the world and must do so again. Kreya, the logical leader who makes bone constructs (think bones and whatever other material that can be combined to make a robot, whether it's wood, fabric, or metal). Jentt her husband who acts as the thief and scout for the group. Zera her best friend who can carve talismans from bones to make people and constructs fly, gain speed, be stealthily. Stran their big lovable boulder of a friend and finally Marso, their bone reader who can read the future and past in the bones. Zera is my favorite character, her personality was fun, sassy, loyal, heart-warming. Honestly, I'd love to see another story in this series and if not based on the Five, then based solely on her. Below are some quotes I pulled out.
As she descended the spiral stairs, she paused on the third level to check on her husband. He lay, as always, carefully wrapped in white linens. "Tomorrow, we'll watch the sun rise together," she told him. "You'll say something that will make me laugh, and I'll make willow tea that you'll ruin with too much honey. And then we can do whatever you want. Walk in the woods. Mend that step you're forever tripping over. We'll have time."
It was comforting to be surrounded by so many books, as if the experience of all the authors could protect her from the unknown future. Although I have never felt protected, who can't say they haven't felt comforted by being surrounded by books? Twisting in the saddle, Zera tried to check, but the horse's fur blocked her view. The horse snorted until she pulled herself back up. "You're a fussy one." She decided that meant it was a boy. Opening her eyes, Kreya noticed that the other rag dolls were clustered around, some on the bed and some by her feet. She gathered them into her arms, and they swarmed all over her, patting her hair and stroking her back. She looked down at the little crushed scout in her arms. Why did these little creatures have so much personality to them? I wanted to cry reading that! Without thinking about whether he could or not, she asked, "Marso, any predictions?" "Death and doom," he replied. "I don't need bones for that."
Thanks to the author Sarah Beth Durst, Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions are mine. Other books read by this author: The Spellshop Published by: Avon and Harper Voyager Publication Date: 09 Mar 2021 Genre: Sci Fi | Fantasy Pages: 496 Date Read: 01 Oct 2020
Around 100 pages, this little book packs a nice scary punch. The story telling is centered around Beatrix a phony medium, Harry her oldest friend, James the disbeliever, Amanda Reynolds, and Stanhope. James hires Beatrix to spend one night in Ashbury Manor, a home infamous for the killings that occurred there.
I enjoyed this book, but a few things that were jarring were the three separate authors. I hadn't noticed it at first, but then when I noticed the author under each new chapter, it put me in mind of a new story. The anger between the two main characters and then them falling in love felt forced. If this book were a little longer and the story a little more developed, I would have liked it more.
Published by: Serial Box Publication Date: 28 Oct 2020 Genre: Historical Fiction | Horror | Romance Pages: 100 Date Read: 25 Sep 2020
