After not been psyched about the last 4 (4!) installments & debating if I was going to continue the series this seemed to get us back on track. Yet another location but: The POV jumps weren’t as jarring, we focussed on the case MORE than the interpersonal drama (which there was still plenty), Scarpetta focussed on her work instead of being up Lucy’s behind &Marino had to deal with his issues. 

Actually excited to see where they go from here.

Another well done, dark-and-sometimes-steamy fairytale retelling from St Clair. This 1 pulled from some lesser known tales (primarily The Hand With the Knife) to set the stage, & there are some obvious nods to Snow White. This was more gruesome than the 1st installment but just as fun. 

Might be a slow burn (but too slow for me)

Adored this! I went through a phase with Greek Myths a couple years ago, so there were lots of familiar faces & situations but I loved seeing it through Clytemnestra’s perspective. Her fierceness, determination, her resilience through dark moments. I also enjoyed how Odysseus was presented. Very well done.

Not good 

It’s written like a travel journal but the MC doesn’t write travel journals. Backpacking through Asia the MC is given a map to a secret island (by a man called Daffy Duck). He &his friends miss about 100 opportunities to leave their new found utopia as it starts to go sideways. The ending was so weird. 

The blurbs say it’s the pinnacle GenX experience, but like… it’s just a bunch of references to movies about the Vietnam War & Super Mario?

Read (my 1st pregnancy book!) with the obvious motivation of confirming my own biases 😂 which worked like a charm. While I won’t take all her research to heart (a glass of wine with dinner just feels wrong), there were a few things that made me think further (genetic testing, birth plans) & copious amounts of data that proved my intuition right (cats, sushi, epidurals)

Loved this. Folklore, growing &changing is met with Christian concepts & corruption of man in colonial New England. Abitha was appropriately sassy without it feeling out of time with the setting. Highly atmospheric & eerie.

I liked the characters, &it was quite an imaginative twist on a Cinderella retelling, full of female empowerment. 

The pacing was a bit off, the resolution fell together too cleanly but I may pick up the sequel at some point

I liked the treasure hunt / mystery aspect, but flashbacks took away the momentum. I’m not really a Shakespeare enthusiast, I don’t know if any of the backstory or greatest literary mystery was researched or imagined. 

Twisty! 

Jac left her hometown in a cloud of suspicion after her father’s death, years later she returns after her grandfather-an armchair detective- dies &finds 2 cold case files left unsolved. Theres more, including a nefarious location locals refer to as “Murder Manor”. 

 

Everything comes together, some quite a surprise. Jac’s impulsiveness had me ready to scream, but it was realistically panicked. Family drama, mystery, murder& more murder.