2.5 stars

First, the positives. I think this cover is absolutely stunning, and I really like the title of the book. I also think there was potential for this to be a really good book, but...

I don't really get the point.

I read Sky in the Deep a year ago, and enjoyed it. It wasn't setting my world on fire, but I thought it was an interesting premise and world that was different from the plethora of palace-intrigue fantasies that tend to flood the market.

When The Girl the Sea Gave Back was added to Book of the Month, I had no idea that this was related to that book. I just remembered that the author had written a book I moderately enjoyed and I was interested to see how her writing progressed from her debut to her second published work.

At the end of the day, I just didn't find this memorable at all. I don't think a week from now I will remember anything substantial about this book, mostly because there isn't much substance to be found. There are kernels of a good story here, but I just never found myself hooked by the world or characters. I read another review that said the world building in this felt very shallow in comparison to SITD, which was strange considering this is the follow up and if anything it should feel richer. I totally agree with that. And really, not much happens here. There are a couple of battle scenes and characters prepping for battle scenes, and that's pretty much it. It feels like I just read the first half of a book, even though the story is wrapped up at the end.

Oh, there's also our two protagonists who see each other for like two minutes and form some sort of bond, to the point that the only meet a handful of times throughout the book and at the end we're supposed to believe that

they're fated to be together. Like...they've had like two conversations, neither of which is them actually getting to know one another. It's all in preparation for a battle...not exactly the stuff forever love is made of.

I don't know why the author made the choices she did with regard to their relationship, but if she really felt the need to write a romance into the story, shouldn't the characters have more than two or three scenes together?

The characters themselves are mostly one-dimensional, which is weird because the male protagonist is a character who was in SITD, so you would think she would've been able to create a little depth, but he never felt like a real person to me. The only real inner conflict he has is that he doesn't feel worthy of being named the successor to the chieftain, but even that feels surface-level.

Ultimately, I go back to what I said at the beginning of this review, and that is that I don't really get the point. The first book was fine on its own, and if the author wasn't going to dig deeper into the world that would've been one thing, but she didn't. Yes, she introduced two new clans. But aside from one of them being mystical and living their lives consulting runes to glimpse the future, we don't really know much about either of them.

This is one of the best re-tellings I've read. It's absolutely one of my new favorites of 2019, and may very well be a new all-time favorite.

I've always loved the story of Robin Hood. Ever since I saw the Disney animated version as a kid, I was hooked. I've tried a couple of other Robin Hood re-tellings in the past and just couldn't get into them. I went into this with slightly low expectations because of that and also the fact that I just read Undying by Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman, and I wasn't a fan. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.

But this was wonderful. It's not a small book, almost 475 pages. It didn't feel that long at all. I read it in essentially two sittings and flew right through it. There's something about the way Meagan Spooner writes these re-tellings that I just connect with on a deep level. I also loved Hunted by her. The pacing is spot on.

There is a good deal of action in this book, and I love that our protagonist is not only intelligent, but she's also an accomplished fighter and archer. Also, the fact that it is action-packed doesn't take away from well-developed characters and a rich world. This book is the whole package.

I also adore the romance in this book. It's the epitome of slow burn, hate-to-love that I am a total sucker for. It actually got to a point in the book where I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be shipping them because it really looked like it wasn't going to happen. Of course, that was right before it turned in their relationship and made it pretty obvious that we were supposed to be rooting for them. I thought their interactions were written so well. Marian's changing perception of him over the course of the book made sense to me, and I was there for it 100%.

If Meagan Spooner could just re-tell all of my favorite fairy tales/classics...that'd be great.

I have been dipping my toe into the mystery/thriller genre for the past six months or so, and I’ve gotta say, this book has got to be one of my favorites so far.

I was not anticipating the ending AT. ALL. When it all came together I actually had to put the book down and remind myself to take a breath. I had chills from head to toe. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a reaction quite that intense to a book.

I could not put this book down. It is incredibly readable. It did take a few chapters to get into the structure and POV, but after that I didn’t want to put it down. I just needed to know the truth.

It’s not a perfect book, by any means. I thought some of the passages talking about psychology were a little overblown and almost felt like I was reading a lecture, but it wasn’t anything that took me out of the story.

I found this utterly compelling. The way the author was able to craft this story is just...wow. I could absolutely see this as a movie. It didn’t surprise me at all to read that the author has screenwriting experience.

I kind of want to go back and reread the book now that I know all the answers.

Wow. I’ll be thinking about this one for awhile.

P.S. Apparently there are a million readers whose thriller IQ is much higher than mine who guessed the ending far earlier than I did. That’s totally fine. I still thought it was incredibly well-crafted and addictive.

4.5 stars

Wow. This book was intense.

I don't understand the urge some people have to climb mountains. I just don't get it. 'Because it's there' just doesn't work for me. Never has. That being said, I've always been intrigued by the types of people who feel that overwhelming need to risk life and limb (literally) to climb a mountain.

I've seen accounts of the 1996 tragedy on Everest on one of those investigative television shows (Dateline or 60 minutes or something), so I was familiar with this story enough that I recognized some of the names and circumstances from that episode. Still, I was thoroughly engrossed in this first-hand account from beginning to end. The ebook edition also had a long postscript where the author rebuts several attacks on the veracity of his account and his credibility in general. Even that was not enough, as I scoured the internet for information about the players involved in this tragedy. After all, this book was written 20 years ago. Who knows what else could've happened since then.

When I came out of the google rabbit hole a couple hours later, I finally decided to sit down and write this review. And here we are.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, which is something I'm trying to remedy. I've also found recently that I tend to like survival stories, which this book is, at the end of the day.

As I said, this book ensnared me within the very first page. I read the majority of this book in one sitting, because I just couldn't put it down. There is something very readable about Krakauer's writing. I didn't necessarily understand every technical thing he talked about, but it didn't really matter. The heart of the story grabbed me. Even knowing that he lived to tell the tale, I was worried about him. Even knowing certain climbers did not survive, I still held out hope as I was reading. The tension was there and I couldn't put the book down.

However, this book isn't perfect. There are times where it sounds less like a memoir and more like a really long news piece. The way certain instances are relayed and people quoted, it felt like I was just reading an extremely long article.

I'm also interested to know whether the physical version has pictures. I feel like I would've been helped by visuals of the mountain, the camps, and the climbers.

If I knew anyone who was interested in climbing Everest or any other large dangerous rock, I would force this book into their hands and quiz them about it afterwards to make sure they actually read it. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and then being like, "You know what? Sound like fun!" But then again, one of the sherpas who survived the 1996 season has reached the Summit on Everest 19 times at last count, so what do I know?

I am so excited to have discovered Lucy Parker's books this year. Even though it's only been in the last month of the year, I still consider it one of my favorite things about my 2019 reading year.

I love her books. The characters are interesting and the relationships, even when they fall into tried and true romance tropes (i.e. fake-dating, hate/disdain-to-love, etc.). I saw a couple of reviews saying that nothing happens in this book, that its just a lot of talking. And...true. But so what? This isn't supposed to be some sort of action-suspense. It's a book about two actors faking a relationship and falling in love. I WANT THEM TO TALK TO EACH OTHER! How the hell else am I supposed to believe that they actually know the other person? There are too many books with romantic subplots where the affection between the two characters doesn't feel earned because they never actually talk to each other. I love the dialogue in her books, and the fact that they talk about real things without it being boring. Seriously, if you don't like the romance and the fact that it takes center stage (pun not intended) you probably shouldn't pick up this book. And that's fine. There are plenty of books out there that don't revolve around a romance...but this is a ROMANCE BOOK. It's the focus. Okay, moving on.

This has some fun steamy scenes, but for people who aren't into the smut that some adult romance contains but still want romance, I think this would be perfect.

And because there is always the moment of conflict before the HEA, let's talk a little about it. Often times that moment feels very contrived. Like, it's something really petty that gets blown out of proportion or there is some wild misunderstanding that could be cleared up if the heroine and hero would just open their mouths and use their damn words. This does has that conflict right near the end, but it felt much more realistic to me. Realistic in the sense that it could happen in the first place, that it would cause a break between our hero and heroine, and that they would ultimately be able to get past it once the dust had settled.

One negative, and it's not actually about the book itself. The audiobook narrator isn't my favorite. She tries to do different things with the different characters and I appreciate that she does use different accents and dialects, but I don't like the way she voiced the hero in this book. He's supposed to be this broody guy with a reputation with the ladies, but she voices him like he's some sort of stuffy 50-year-old banker or something (no offense intended to stuffy 50-year-old bankers). It's got a nasal quality that is a little off-putting. Not exactly what I want from a sexy romantic hero. I think the same actor narrates all this author's audiobooks, so I may switch to ebook or just buy the physical copies of her books in the future.

Lucy Parker is absolutely one of my new-to-me favorite authors, and I can't wait to read more of her books in 2020 and beyond!

First of all, how dare this book end when it did?

But seriously, I really enjoyed this story. After reading Far From the Tree by Robin Benway last year, I've found that I'm really interested in stories about adoption. I've never read a book written solely by Cynthia Hand. My only prior experience with her writing was My Lady Jane, which is co-written with two other authors, so I had no real idea what to expect when it came to her writing. I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging this was and how immediately I connected to it.

I don't always like books that jump from one perspective and timeline to another, but the way this is done just worked for me. I also like the characters and thought they were well developed.

The friendship between Cassie and Nyla was really well done, and also liked Bastian and their group of friends, although there wasn't really a lot of group scenes with those characters. That wasn't what the story was about, so it was okay that the focus wasn't on them.

I will say that there were a couple of things I didn't really appreciate. The sexuality of one character is kind of used as a twist and it felt awkward to me, mostly because it was obvious that it was where the story was going but it took so long for our other characters to learn about it. Aside from that, I also felt like there were a few things that could've been trimmed (this book is nearly 500 pages! Pretty long for a YA contemporary.) that weren't actually important to the plot of the story to the point that some things become a little repetitive. Also, there are several moments near the end that feel like the story is wrapping up, but it doesn't. So the pacing in the last third of the book isn't the best.

I really enjoyed the passages from Cassie's birth mother's POV and the way that they were used throughout the novel. Even when she is reluctant to write them and using snark and sarcasm when referring to her situation, I still felt for her and actually liked her character.

I teared up several times throughout the course of the book, especially when Cassie makes her decision regarding what to do about her birth mother. I totally understand why she makes the choice she does, but I could also see the opposite choice being made and I would totally understand that as well. It was just one of those situations where no decision is 'right' or 'wrong', and I feel like that's also true for many other moments in the book.

Other odds and ends:

*I wanted a scene where Nyla and/or Cassie realize that Nyla's parents were one of the couples who had applied to adopt Cassie. It was obvious that they were the Mormon parents where the father was a surgeon, and I wonder why the author would include that if it wasn't going to be acknowledged later on.

*I wanted to know more about Nyla and her story. She mentions her parents trying to locate her brother and only says that it 'didn't end well'. What does that mean?!

I would love a follow-up novel or novella with these characters because I really want to know what happens next. I'll definitely check out Cynthia Hand's future releases.

3.5 stars, rounded up because of the sheer number of times I found myself grinning like a fool and laughing out loud. This was a really wonderful start to my reading year. One of my reading goals this year is to read more fun and fluffy books and to realize that not everything has to be over-analyzed. This book is fun and quick and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it.

So while I didn't like this quite as much as the other two I've read by this author, I still think she writes really fun adult romances that I am a total sucker for. This one has a second-chance romance, one of my favorite romance tropes. The heroine is a burlesque dancer and the hero is a makeup artist, which I found a really interesting combination, and I liked the scenes that revolved around their professions.
A constant in her stories is the authenticity with regards to intimate scenes. I really appreciate that every sexual encounter isn't earth-shattering and perfect. Sometimes it's awkward and silly.
I liked our main couple, but I did think that this relationship and the conflicts within relied a little too much on miscommunication for my liking. Also, once they realized the miscommunication, their relationship jumped from dislike to intimate almost instantaneously, and I wish that there had been just a little more transition.
That said, I am total trash for this author and series of books and will continue to read them as long as she writes them.

I'd seen the documentary that was made about Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, so I knew about a lot of the content of this book, but it was really interesting to listen in so much detail from the reporter who broke the case.

I listened to this on audiobook, and while I think it was well narrated, I think it is sometimes a little too technical to just listen to as far as the medical terminology and procedures. I wished I'd had the physical book with me to read along at some points or go back and re-read, but again, I'm at least somewhat familiar with the case already, so it didn't hinder my reading experience.

It's difficult to really fathom the number of successful and seemingly intelligent people this woman was able to con. Honestly, if I'd read a fictional novel following this story I would think it was asking me to suspend my disbelief to a ridiculous extent. I mean, we're talking CEOs and media moguls and military bigwigs, not to mention high-ranking members of both major political parties. It's absolutely astounding to me. Also, the fact that she hasn't seen the inside of a jail cell yet is an absolute miscarriage of justice. No one can convince me that this woman isn't a straight-up narcissist with sociopathic tendencies.

This is the first Stephen King book I've read (I'm a scaredy cat, what can I say? No pun intended.) I've never seen any of the adaptations for Pet Sematary, and I didn't know anything about the story before going into it. I listened to this on audiobook, and I wish I'd skipped the author's note at the beginning of the book, not because it wasn't interesting, but because there are a couple things he says that give away plot points of the story, so I kind of expected them from the beginning. It was obvious that the author's note is something that was added far after the fact (I think it was added to the 2000 edition of the book) so maybe there was an assumption that many people had either read a prior edition or that they'd seen one of the adaptations.

Anyway, I actually ended up enjoying this quite a bit. I found it more contemplative than I was expecting, and the commentary on grief was really well done. I will say that anyone who is sensitive to stories about familial death should be wary of this book.

The first half to two-thirds of this book kind of flew by for me. I did feel like the pacing in the last third or so of the book

after Gage's death

was a little slow for me. I'm sure King was very precise in what he was doing in order to create tension, but I feel like at that point everyone who has been paying attention knows exactly what he is going to do. The fact that it took so long to get from that point to the end was a little silly. That being said, the final couple of scenes were at the same time creepy, terrifying, and heartbreaking.

I've never been super interested in reading Stephen King's books, because like I said, big wimp here. But now that I've actually done it, I am definitely interested in checking out some of his other works.