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emilyctrigg
3.5/5
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Edgewood is the story of Emeline Lark-- a girl from a small forest town with big dreams. She wants to make it big as a singer, but the forest from her home doesn't seem to want to let her go. Every time she sings, the forest comes to her. Then one day, her grandfather with dementia goes missing and she knows he's gone into the forest which can't help but pull her family in. The town has always had... stories... about the forest and the Elf King who rules over the enchanted kingdom. The king who requires tithes from the town in order to keep the forest under control.
Emeline decides she must go into the king's court to rescue her grandfather no matter the cost. And if she has to make nice with the aloof, handsome tithe-collector? So be it.
This story was honestly truly lovely. The writing was flowery while still being readable. Emeline was a very interesting character-- she was multi-faceted and more than just her love for her grandfather or her big dreams. That being said... she was also really dumb. Her "big reveal" near the end of the story was foreshadowed well and I picked up on what was going to happen pretty early on. But Emeline was shocked by every single little thing that happened. I found myself getting annoyed at her for being so incredibly stubborn while also being not that bright.
Hawthorne was an interesting love interest. He was pretty quiet and aloof for most of the book, but he had a really good reason as to why. Honestly, this reveal was probably my favorite part of the book. I didn't see this reveal coming and I'm not often surprised.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Edgewood is the story of Emeline Lark-- a girl from a small forest town with big dreams. She wants to make it big as a singer, but the forest from her home doesn't seem to want to let her go. Every time she sings, the forest comes to her. Then one day, her grandfather with dementia goes missing and she knows he's gone into the forest which can't help but pull her family in. The town has always had... stories... about the forest and the Elf King who rules over the enchanted kingdom. The king who requires tithes from the town in order to keep the forest under control.
Emeline decides she must go into the king's court to rescue her grandfather no matter the cost. And if she has to make nice with the aloof, handsome tithe-collector? So be it.
This story was honestly truly lovely. The writing was flowery while still being readable. Emeline was a very interesting character-- she was multi-faceted and more than just her love for her grandfather or her big dreams. That being said... she was also really dumb. Her "big reveal" near the end of the story was foreshadowed well and I picked up on what was going to happen pretty early on. But Emeline was shocked by every single little thing that happened. I found myself getting annoyed at her for being so incredibly stubborn while also being not that bright.
Hawthorne was an interesting love interest. He was pretty quiet and aloof for most of the book, but he had a really good reason as to why. Honestly, this reveal was probably my favorite part of the book. I didn't see this reveal coming and I'm not often surprised.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Full review to come, but the gist of this review is that this book is almost unreadable. It's repetitive stream of consciousness in the worst way. From about 30% on, I just kept wishing the book would end already. Literally took me over a month to read this book because I just didn't care at all.
Updates from my initial thoughts:
Kathy/Marina has an insane "not like other girls" complex. I was *so* frustrated reading this book because it was all about Kathy talking about how she doesn't wear much makeup. And she won't sleep around. And she's just so naturally thin. And she gets all this male attention even though she's sooooo plain and only wears jeans and flannels. I wanted to SCREAM with how annoying I found Kathy and how she simultaneously thinks nothing and everything of herself.
Besides the inanity of our MC, we also have to deal with the repetitive nature of the story as a whole. Like, I'm sorry, but I can only hear about you dating your 7th guy named John for so long. I know that your drink is only one White Russian and that you drink it until your "chin goes numb" when you go dancing. You do not have to tell me 18 times. PLEASE. Please. Get an editor and shorten this memoir significantly.
I hated almost every second of this book and was waiting for it to just finally be over. Then it did finally end.... supremely underwhelmingly. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Full review to come, but the gist of this review is that this book is almost unreadable. It's repetitive stream of consciousness in the worst way. From about 30% on, I just kept wishing the book would end already. Literally took me over a month to read this book because I just didn't care at all.
Updates from my initial thoughts:
Kathy/Marina has an insane "not like other girls" complex. I was *so* frustrated reading this book because it was all about Kathy talking about how she doesn't wear much makeup. And she won't sleep around. And she's just so naturally thin. And she gets all this male attention even though she's sooooo plain and only wears jeans and flannels. I wanted to SCREAM with how annoying I found Kathy and how she simultaneously thinks nothing and everything of herself.
Besides the inanity of our MC, we also have to deal with the repetitive nature of the story as a whole. Like, I'm sorry, but I can only hear about you dating your 7th guy named John for so long. I know that your drink is only one White Russian and that you drink it until your "chin goes numb" when you go dancing. You do not have to tell me 18 times. PLEASE. Please. Get an editor and shorten this memoir significantly.
I hated almost every second of this book and was waiting for it to just finally be over. Then it did finally end.... supremely underwhelmingly. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced audio copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Not good for maidens is a modern take on the fairytale of the goblin market. The market appears in a small town every summer and you better beware of what happens after dark. 18 years ago, sisters May and Laura had to make a terrible decision that ended up costing them their magic. Today, Lou is desperate to know more about her family and why she can't ever go visit her best friend Neela back in Europe.
One day, Lou gets a voice message from Neela saying that "they're coming for [her]" and then a creepy as heck voice starts singing Scarborough fair. Lou knows Neela is in trouble and absolutely must go back overseas to try to save her. But what ensues is a life-or-death cat and mouse game under the city in the deadly goblin market.
This book was awesome. The dual timeline was done immaculately-- each time I wanted to know more about what was happening the current timeframe, we would skip back to the other timeline. This kept me reading and super engaged throughout. Lou was a ballsy character with tons of smarts, integrity, and love. I was rooting for her the whole time. I enjoyed the past timeline slightly less because I found May to be a bit stupid. It was still super enjoyable and I was engrossed as heck, but I found myself rolling my eyes at May and being like "omg please don't do that thing. That's a bad idea!"
The narrator was absolutely perfect for this title. She read Lou and all of the narration of the story with an American accent and then read all of the other characters with Scottish accents. It was SO fun to listen to. She also did some great character work to make the goblins sound creepy and cunning.
The story ends with juuuuuuust enough of an open ending, which is my absolute favorite kind of ending.
Overall, I'm giving this a 4/5 because I had some problems with May's and Adra's characters and their motivations for their actions, but this title was super enjoyable and it's very likely that I'll be purchasing my own copy for my collection!
Not good for maidens is a modern take on the fairytale of the goblin market. The market appears in a small town every summer and you better beware of what happens after dark. 18 years ago, sisters May and Laura had to make a terrible decision that ended up costing them their magic. Today, Lou is desperate to know more about her family and why she can't ever go visit her best friend Neela back in Europe.
One day, Lou gets a voice message from Neela saying that "they're coming for [her]" and then a creepy as heck voice starts singing Scarborough fair. Lou knows Neela is in trouble and absolutely must go back overseas to try to save her. But what ensues is a life-or-death cat and mouse game under the city in the deadly goblin market.
This book was awesome. The dual timeline was done immaculately-- each time I wanted to know more about what was happening the current timeframe, we would skip back to the other timeline. This kept me reading and super engaged throughout. Lou was a ballsy character with tons of smarts, integrity, and love. I was rooting for her the whole time. I enjoyed the past timeline slightly less because I found May to be a bit stupid. It was still super enjoyable and I was engrossed as heck, but I found myself rolling my eyes at May and being like "omg please don't do that thing. That's a bad idea!"
The narrator was absolutely perfect for this title. She read Lou and all of the narration of the story with an American accent and then read all of the other characters with Scottish accents. It was SO fun to listen to. She also did some great character work to make the goblins sound creepy and cunning.
The story ends with juuuuuuust enough of an open ending, which is my absolute favorite kind of ending.
Overall, I'm giving this a 4/5 because I had some problems with May's and Adra's characters and their motivations for their actions, but this title was super enjoyable and it's very likely that I'll be purchasing my own copy for my collection!