2/5 Stars: The Woman in Me

Note: The star rating is not for the story itself, or a reflection on her as a person. I did not enjoy the act of reading the book because of the layout / grammar / disjointed thoughts. Her situation is of course horrific, the author obviously went through some traumatic stuff that no one should have gone through. But it was a bad read. It was all over the place, and didn’t flow. I felt like I was reading a high school student’s diary – which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it was awkward.

She came off as a spoiled immature spiteful entitled person. That was the view I got going in, and going out. She repeats over and over on all the monetary things she does for other people, and at one point even says she dreamed of her family to bowing to her because of what she had provided for them.

Yes, parts of her life have been unfair. Her family were not the best people. She never ever takes responsibility for any of her actions or reactions to these things, and constantly places the blame on what everyone else has done to her.

I’m of course, glad, that her life is finally her own – the conservator should have never ever been a thing. She is perfectly right in the fact that she shouldn’t have been forced to perform for others while at the same time being told she was too sick to pick out her own food. That’s pretty messed up.

The formatting (or lack there of) and grammar of the book were hard to digest, but I’m sure fans will appreciate its simplicity. It was insightful to hear things from her own perspective, and I hope it brought her a little bit of closure to get it out in the world.

2/5 stars

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: Cassiel’s Servant, by Jacqueline Carey

As soon as I found out Jacqueline Carey would be returning to the world of Terre d’Ange, and this time from the perspective of Joscelin – I knew I was going to buy the book, and I was pretty confident that it would be a 5 star rating from me.

Even though many (many) years have gone by since I read Kushiel’s Dart, I was instantly brought right back, and I loved every second. I felt the story worked as a stand alone for those who were maybe not familiar with the story, but since it had been so long since I read the books, it also worked fantastic for me. If you are a newcomer to the series, I do suggest you pick up Kushiel’s Dart (if you enjoyed Cassiel’s Servant) so you can get acquainted with Phedre, as my rose coloured glasses consider that single book her best work.

I (as always) read it too quickly, even though I tried to savor it. Jacqueline Carey is a talented author who can write in numerous genres, but the ones that involve the Kushiel universe are some of her best (in my opinion).

5/5

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

1/5 Star Review: Starry Night by Debbie Macomber

As a longtime fan of Debbie Macomber, I’ve often turned to her books for a dose of lighthearted escapism that requires little mental effort. Her stories have always been simple and sweet, and I proudly display a collection of her works on my shelves. When I picked up her latest book, I anticipated the same delightful experience. However, I was met with a narrative that felt vastly different from her usual style.

This time, the plot revolved around an implausible storyline that seemed to recycle the same themes repeatedly. I found it challenging to connect with the main character, who constantly lamented her life despite being described as beautiful, thin, and intelligent. Her main conflict revolved around her job writing the society pages, while she yearned to cover more substantial issues. The love interest was equally perplexing, vacillating between anger and infatuation with a quickness that left me bewildered. His feelings swung from disdain for the world and a complicated relationship with his mother to an immediate, almost obsessive attraction to the protagonist. This back-and-forth made it hard to invest in their romance.

What truly detracted from my enjoyment, however, were the judgmental comments woven throughout the narrative. The love interest’s disdain for children who prefer video games over outdoor exploration felt particularly out of place. He penned a book titled “Alone,” criticizing modern kids for their screen time and lack of adventure. This theme was delivered in a way that felt patronizing, as if condemning an entire generation for their interests.

There’s a more thoughtful way to encourage exploration and celebrate adventure without resorting to judgment. The author could have fostered an uplifting message about the value of different experiences instead of casting aspersions on those who enjoy gaming. This judgmental tone left me feeling uncomfortable and alienated as a reader.

Overall, while I appreciate Macomber’s ability to craft feel-good stories, this particular book fell short for me. It felt forced, and I found myself wishing for the warmth and charm that initially drew me to her work.

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: ‘Millionaire Teacher, The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should have Learned in School’ by Andrew Hallam

Not everything I read is for pure pleasure, though personal development books do tend to fall under that category for me most times since they’re actually a lot of fun. When Cryptocurrency began to gain traction this year and was being talked about all over the place, I decided to look into old school stocks. I’m not always patient, but when it comes to money I’m a fan of slowly putting some away over time until you look back 20 years later and see what has amassed. This book, Millionaire Teacher, looks at something called Index Funds that you can invest in to do just that. Index funds are little bits of all sorts of publicly traded stock. Instead of buying into just one company (that might fail) you buy small bits and pieces of many companies. Some fail, some do well. It boats a 10% return each year, so depending on what you invest, you could gain a fair amount. It takes time, but you don’t have to be a stock market wizard.

The book was great at explaining the ins and outs of this method of making money to me – but the author also spent a whole lot of time talking about things that could have been summed up faster, or just left out all together. I did like the way they explained how to think about money, the information they had about fancy cars, and little useful tidbits here and there.

Do I think it will make me a millionaire? Probably not. I think people who read this book and assume they will get the exact same results need to step back and take a little bit of caution. Sure, if you’ve been investing since you were a child, you can certainly amass a good amount of money over the years – but most of us are well into our 30s or even 40s before we start to suddenly realize that ‘saving money’ each pay is a good thing. I don’t know about everyone else, but in school I didn’t learn anything useful about budgeting, or how to actually function in the real world when it comes to money. It’s something that could have really helped me out.

Overall? I don’t regret spending any time reading this, I learned a lot, and I feel like less of a dunce when it comes to money and investment.

4/5 stars