Mags and Ava are two young women who are struggling to find themselves, and not lose control under the constant judgement and scrutiny of the public and the people around them. Their lives are filled with tragedy and toxins and they are simply trying to tread water and not drown when everything is working against them.

The first half of the book was really interesting. Slow and steady as these two young girls inch towards adulthood while the world watches their every move. The second half sped up considerably and I was u able to put it down. The points where their lives cross were beautiful and I found myself crying at a few points really rooting for them to have some sort of break from the toxic people and lifestyles.

Raw and Real. I love the writing style. The alternating chapters between Mags and Ava, as well as the forums and articles included to see what the public thought and how they treated them. Two lost girls who feel considerably more alone as their fame progresses.

And can I just say... Sam...

I had seen this book all over bookstagram for months. It was highly recommended by some friends and so I grabbed I from the library when I saw it there. I love Beauty and the Beast (Disney) and I was worried, with this being a retelling, that it wouldn’t live up to the hype. I was concerned that it would not be as incredible as everyone said it was. My worries were unfounded. This book was totally hype worthy.

I enjoyed the characters and their developments. It seems that everyone was holding back secrets and feelings and although it frustrates me often enough I still enjoyed it. Their journeying through the kingdom was fun and I loved how this magical kingdom exists along side our own.

I read a bunch of reviews stating that people didn’t like the unnecessary love triangle. I honestly didn’t get those vibes with Grey and Harper. I thought she was comfortable with him, but in a more good friend or brotherly way. Maybe I missed something but I wasn’t feeling any tense attracted to each other moments.

I loved that Harper was seen as this meek and disabled little girl by her brother and in spite of her Cerebral Palsy she is totally a strong badass woman. An entirely able human with her own strengths and abilities.

While the story was definitely VERY different than the Disney version in many scenes I could see where the scene matched to the Disney version. I liked that. I felt it kept it somewhat true to the story I grew up with and loved while still being it’s own story.

I have ready decided to pick up A Heart So Fierce and Broken and I hope that I enjoy it as much as this!

Shirin is an American Muslim girl who daily faces racism and sexism after the events of 9/11 things become worse for her. The way Shirin was treated was shown for choosing to wear the Hijab was shown in a few ways. Her brother was treated better becaUe he was male and another girl was treated better because she didn’t wear the hijab.

I really enjoyed this book. It touched on so many issues that are ignored, or denied in today’s society. I felt that Shirins point of view throughout was raw and honest. She struggles to find a balance between being careful, strong and smart while allowing herself to be open and vulnerable.

The language used wall perfect for teenagers. I could hear 16 year old me talking the way these kids did. It often felt awkward when Shirin and Ocean were talking to each other, but in a completely innocent and normal way. It wasn’t incredibly poetic and unbelievable, it was teenagers navigating horrible treatment, broke hearts and discovering themselves.

Shirin is repeatedly treated poorly based entirely on her looks. The ignorance and blatant abuse shown throughout this book infuriated me. The racism in this town is acknowledged and brushed off constantly.

The ending broke my heart. I wanted to scream. After everything that happened how could it end this way... and then I realized this is realistic. This outcome is what probably would happen on real life and it couldn’t have ended better.

TW; racism, sexism

Joe Thornes sister Annie went missing when she was 8. She returned two days later, a very different child than before. Years later Joe is back in his old town when history seems to be repeating itself.

First off I read The Chalk Man recently and I loved it. The Hiding Place was another great novel from CJ Tudor.

What I enjoyed: I loved the way there were all of these threads from the past and the present that seems as though they could never be tied nicely together, and yet they did. This novel had so many aspects and I just couldn’t see how the paranormal, mob, exorcist, it type storylines could possibly be a part of this story line. And yet it was written so well by the end I realized it couldn’t have ended up any different. Joe was just enough of an asshole that I hated to like him. He was a loner, with a past that wouldn’t stay in the past. I loved the tie ins to this quiet mining town that had deeper roots than you could ever imagine.

CW; Cancer, suicide, gore, child death, assault, murder, alcoholism

I am looking forward to The Other People!

Thank you to Celadon and Eidelweiss for my e copy and LibroFM for my audio copy.

went into this book with the notion that I had it all figured out. I in fact had none of it figured out whatsoever.

I loved the world building. I could picture my own vacation to a Caribbean resort. The smells. The atmosphere. The characters. It was as if I was looking at pictures from my own past.

I loved how all of these incredibly flawed characters felt like they could actually be real. They were relatable and realistic. I felt the way this tragedy’s ripples were shown through the people involved was really eye opening. This girls death did not only affect her family, or those accused, or the other guests but also people who connected with those people.

My only gripe was at the end I wanted to throw my phone because I felt that there wasn’t the closure I wanted. And I feel that was the point. Tragedies often have this vagueness to them. A blur around the edges. Nothing wrapped up nicely in a bow like you’d want. More questions than answers.

I love WWII centred historical fiction. All the stories to be told, it is fascinating. This one was a new angle for me. I thought it sounded really interesting.

Unfortunately it just was very meh. I’m not sure if it was the actual writing or the audio but if it had been a physical copy I would have DNF it early.

The characters were very one dimensional spinal and I didn’t feel a connection to a single one of them. I didn’t believe their connections with each other either

I felt the world building was nearly non existent and could not picture much of the locations.

The issues touched on such as racism, nationalism, sexism and class had so much potential and I just didn’t care much to find out what was going on in these people’s lives and missed all of their struggles entirely.

This book was sadly very much not for me.

I caught this audio as a skip the line at my library and thought why not. I’ve seen it around bookstagram for a long while and while the cover did not draw me in my fellow grammers reviews certainly did. I definitely am glad I caught it when I did or it may have taken me longer (if at all) to get to.

While I don’t want to go into to much detail to prevent spoilers and ruin the fascinating plot I will say if you haven’t read this book, you absolutely should. Pay attention however from the beginning where the book starts somewhat slow as every single plot point is important in figuring out who kills Evelyn Hardcastle. Maybe it was just me but for the first short bit I was not totally invested and while I was enjoying the story I was like okay, this is alright. The writing was so vivid that I could see the grounds and rooms of Blackheath Manor.

The audio was so fun to listen to and once I was truly paying attention I could not stop listening. Twist after twist after turn after death I HAD to discover what the heck was going on. I found myself laughing and gasping and ahaing and pausing to reconsider characters and events so often that when we finally reached the pivotal moment in the book I was truly truly impressed and stunned at the outcome. This was like nothing I have ever read before and it ended up being EXACTLY my kind of book.

CW; talk of rape, murder, assault

Charlie and his friends, The Vindicators, are launched into a virtual game where the stakes are high and the line between right and wrong blur into the morally grey.

So full disclosure I am a huge “Black Mirror” fan. This book gave me so many Black Mirror vibes. It felt like one of those sci fi, never could happen scenarios... or could it? Maybe I need to dust off the tinfoil hat cause this book gave me chills. The constant life or death decisions being made by people who have to raise their hands to use the bathroom made me so nervous.

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So, while I was reading The City of Lost fortunes, I ended up to doing out from Goodreads that it already had a sequel. I immediately hopped onto the library app to check it out.
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While the first book focused on Jude Dubisson, the overconfident demi god. This book (I was surprised to find out) actually focused on one of the first books. Secondary characters. Still set in New Orleans we get to see a whole new side to this universe Bryan is weaving together.
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Renaissance “Renai” Raines is trying to navigate her new position in the afterlife as a psychopomp. She is a guide of souls from our world to the afterlife. She is struggling to come to terms with what she is and what that means.
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Renai is on a mission to find a soul who missed their death. She uncovers a scene that is even more trouble than she initially thought.
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While I was initially disappointed in the lack of Jude in this story I really ended up loving Renai. She’s confused and lost and still pulls strength up to do what’s right. Her characters story is really deep and during the halfway mark I had to re read a few pages to make sure I didn’t skip something crucial.
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This series is shaping up to be a bigger and more detailed universe than I could have imagined. I’m ready for more! Bryan creates a really vivid story again weaving in pieces of lore and different cultures and religions really beautifully.
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