2/5 Stars: The Inheritance Games

Another one of those books that I actually heard about on BookTok first, and decided to try out. I’m not sure why I thought the book would appeal to me but I decided to give it a go.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was easy to read and beautiful – however. I absolutely did NOT enjoy the story, or the characters, at all.

“Traps upon traps… and riddles upon riddles”

There were no traps, no riddles. The book spent so much time focusing on drama between Avery and the other teenagers that sometimes I forgot what it was about. None of it made sense, and I didn’t enjoy the characters.

The dialogue didn’t hit any of the right notes with me, and the conclusion was underwhelming. I’m sure many others out there enjoy this read – but it was just not for me.

3/5 Star Review: Yours Truly

I’m not usually a huge fan of contemporary romance, but ‘Yours Truly’ by Abby Jimenez hit all the right notes, and was exactly the book I needed at the time that I read it. One of the main things that stood out is that the characters were relatable. There were situations that involved anxiety, and I could see myself in them. The characters were believable, and the story didn’t try to play down to a certain intelligence level.

There were some TW mentioned by the author, including cheating, medical issues, depression, and a mention of pregnancy loss & suicide. I appreciate that the author put this information forward, I wish more books would do that.

Over all, it was a good book to curl up with on a rainy day and just let my brain slow down – sometimes that’s exactly what I need.

3/5 stars

5/5 Stars: Madly Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman

I do know there’s some controversy over whether or not Rickman would have wanted his diaries published, but I found them delightful to read, and I enjoyed how blunt some of the entries were. This bluntness made it easier for me to recognize Rickman as a human being, and I was able to piece together world events and political views. I didn’t need to agree with him or see eye to eye, I was simply interested in how this fascinating man thought, and these diaries gave me good insight into that.

They’re probably not for everyone, the writing is often in short form, almost note-like, and it can make it difficult to read and understand. Putting that aside, I still found it fascinating, from an actor I had watched for many years but who of course I’d never actually met in any way shape or form.

5/5 stars

5/5 Stars: The Ivory Tomb, by Melissa Caruso

Wow. What a fantastic end to this trilogy.

I was a huge fan of the first two books, and the third did not fail to disappoint. It’s an epic fantasy tale with lots of tropes, but I didn’t mind them in the least, the author used them well. We learn more about the Dark Days, and watch the development of the relationship between Ryx and Severin. There’s a lot of action, the book was over before I knew it.

Highly recommended, I enjoyed them so much that I’ll be looking into other books that Melissa has written, if they’re anything like these then they’re sure to be winners.

5/5 stars

1/5 Stars: Meow, by Skye MacKinnon

If I could give this book a negative star review, I would.

It was horrible. I read 25% of it and gave up – and that’s saying something. I don’t give up on books very easily, and I am typically able to at least complete them before judging. This book is the exception. It’s poorly written, (very) poorly edited, makes no sense, and is just plain bad. I received the book free and even that didn’t convince me to make it through to the end. Do yourself a favour, read something worthy of your time. This isn’t it.

1/5 stars

Review: Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan

I’ve never been one to write a review where I talk about the entire contents of a book because I really don’t want to spoil it for people. I know plenty of people who write those types of reviews, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them, but it’s just not my jam. I just wanted to put that out there.

When a book enters my TBR pile it usually happens one of three ways. One, a friend recommended it. Two, I read about it some place online. Three, I happened to be browsing ‘what should I read next’ lists or recommendations off of sites like StoryGraph or even here on GoodReads. ‘Age of Myth’ entered my pile from all three of these methods. I was searching for an epic fantasy book to read because I hadn’t read one for some time, and this one popped up on my feed. After I purchased the book I noticed that the back cover has a brief review from Mogsy over at the BiblioSanctum, who I adore and have been friends with for a number of years. We don’t always like the same books, but when she gives a 4.5/5 star review, I know it’s going to be a good read.

I was not disappointed at all with Age of Myth. It was everything I wanted – but not perfect. It was a book I found hard to put down, beautifully written (the world building is absolutely top notch) with a fascinating story. There are multiple story lines going at once, so if that’s something that doesn’t interest you, you might want to take a pass – on that same note, the stories do converge fairly early on, making it much easier to keep track of everyone.

Female protagonists, epic deities, a ‘big bad’ – and let me say that’s one thing that I actually think the book did not need. Further on you meet ‘a big bad’ on top of a few other ‘bads’ wandering around. You’ll know who I’m talking about when you meet him, and it is a very stereotypical ‘big bad’ and one that I think the book absolutely did not need. It felt a bit like HBO trying to force blood/gore/elicit emotion that I was already feeling before the ‘big bad’ even showed up. I’m not even sure their role was needed at all. I might be alone in that feeling, but it seemed unnecessary.

I finished this book within a week, it was that good. It was a great epic fantasy read, and exactly what I was hoping for. Thankfully the second book is already out, and I’m thinking of picking it up as an audio book because Tim Gerard does the reading and apparently it’s quite amazing.

5/5 stars

Review: Desperate Duchesses, by Eloisa James

When the Netflix series of Bridgerton came out, people flocked to it. I didn’t realize it was actually a book well before it ever became a series, and while looking at the reviews I noticed that Felicia Day (who I happen to follow on GoodReads) had a recommendation for people who enjoyed these types of historical romance – and that’s how I came to find Desperate Duchesses. I attempted to read Bridgerton and I did NOT enjoy it at all. This book though? This book was magical.

If you’re a fan of The Queen’s Gambit (another Netflix show, what can I say) then you’ll appreciate this book even more, because there are some intense chess scenes in the book that will take you right back to that show. The author has a fantastic way with words, and this book was an incredible way to relax that did not require very much brain power but still kept me interested enough to turn the pages. It was like listening to a conversation take place instead of reading.

You’ll follow the story of Lady Roberta St. Giles as she tries to meet the man of her dreams (who she thinks is Duke Villier) but spread throughout the story is a number of other interesting characters, including her father (a poet) known as the Mad Marquees, and her distant cousin, Jemma, who is a bit of a calculating fiend, to be honest.

Without spoiling any of the book, I will say that the reviews of it can be quite harsh, so I’d give it a go yourself if you’re interested in those types of books and not rely solely on the public. Otherwise, I might not have given it a chance at all – and I’m so glad I did.

4/5 stars

Review: Crow Lake, by Mary Lawson

In an attempt to branch out from my typical genres, I decided to join a book club hosted by Random House, and this was their current book selection, along with a chat with the author taking place on December 3rd. When I initially signed up I did not expect to finish the book in time because there was less than a week to go, but I found myself pulled into the story right away and finished it with lots of time to spare.

Crow Lake is beautifully written, and incredibly emotional. You follow the story of a family who lives in a small farming community, from the perspective of a middle child. They undergo incredible tragedy early on and must either learn to cope, or lose the closeness of their family.

I had a bit of an issue with the main character’s perspective but I think it was because I found her hard to relate to. She was incredibly aloof and I found her to be self centered masked behind a “this is what I think is best for the family” persona.

The book also (in my opinion) ends rather abruptly. You’re very slowly and cautiously lead through the happenings of this family, painstakingly falling into their world bit by bit and it all builds up to one moment where everything is unleashed – and ends, within the same last section. It left me wondering and wanting more, which I suppose is the purpose.

Still, I’m very glad I picked up Crow Lake and highly recommend it. A wonderful book by a fantastic Canadian author.