This is not my typical genre, but wow! I really loved this book. The story of Amora, Bastian, Ferrick, and Vatae as they try to save a kingdom was so much fun and a great adventure. I loved it so much that I already pre-ordered the second book. What's not to love with princesses, pirates, and mermaids!

3.5 stars rounded up.

In 1984, three kids went into the woods to play, but only one returned. The bodies of the other two kids were never found. Years later, the boy who was found is now a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad. Along with his partner they must solve the murder of a young girl found near the same woods where his friends disappeared all those years ago. Will they find a connection between the two cases?

I thought the premise of this book sounded intriguing. Someone involved in a crime as a child now solving a similar crime, sign me up! However, I did feel the book dragged a bit. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and some parts of the story were not necessary to keep the story going. With that said, I did enjoy the author’s style of writing. Her descriptions were beautifully written, and she transported me to Ireland and the Knocknaree hillside.

At one point, Rob, our narrator, mentions that the present day case was not easy to solve, but I honestly saw some of it coming very early on. Not all of it, but a main part. That didn’t stop me from reading though. I wanted to know what happened to those kids who disappeared all those years ago and how the cases were related which kept me reading. Sadly I did find the ending a bit disappointing though.

Another creative and imaginative story by Lewis Carroll. Through the Looking Glass follows Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I actually think both stories are rather silly, but they were fun reads.

Bea and Lo are sisters who lost their parents in a tragic car accident. Lo was also in the accident, but survived after what Bea thought was a miracle. That miracle was Lev Warren, the charismatic leader of The Unity Project. When Bea joins The Unity Project, she leaves Lo to survive on her own. Six years later, Lo is working at a magazine. When someone shows up claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo decides to do a story in hopes of finding her sister and proving that The Project is in fact a cult. Lo begins to get closer to Lev and the members of The Project and starts to question her beliefs. Will she figure out what is in fact real and what happened to her sister?

This book is a slow burn. It is told from both Bea and Lo’s perspectives and jumps around from different time periods. It was a bit confusing figuring out who everyone was at first and what time we were in even though there are headers with the years. There are no chapters in this book just five parts, and I think that if there were chapters stating the year and who was telling their story it would be more helpful to the reader. There are some jumps from one situation to another that do not have a break, which can be confusing to the reader.

I found Lo to be unlikeable and preferred the sections told from Bea’s perspective. I thought that Foster was a great character and really liked his story. Lev was the epitome of a cult leader so it was definitely hard to like him, and Casey was another interesting character as she helped Lev all along throughout the book.

I liked the setting of upstate New York and found the author to be very descriptive. I could picture the lake and cabin at The Unity Project. Parts 1-3 were a bit slow for my liking, but Parts 4 and 5 moved quickly and were the most interesting to me. I liked the mystery aspect of what happened to Bea and how it all came together at the end although I do feel some parts were rushed and skimmed over. However, if you enjoy books about cults, I would recommend this.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was a little nervous with the addition of Lia Mara to the story. I didn’t know how I’d feel about her especially because I loved Grey and Harper’s relationship, but I ended up loving Lia Mara. I also loved that we learned more about Grey in this book. He was my favorite character in A Curse So Dark and Lonely (#teamgrey) so I was glad the story was mostly told from his and Lia Mara’s perspectives. There were some great new characters introduced in this book, and I look forward to seeing where it goes when the third books comes out in January 2021. I will not be waiting patiently though! Lol!