I love both Shane and Ruthie and their friends so much. There was so much depth in this and I loved the way the marriage of convenience played out in the book. It was so refreshing that they were honest with each other and vulnerable with their blunt personalities without playing games. Izzy was written really off-character tho. She didn’t talk at all like a 5 year old about was hard to picture her that way. 

Super interesting and unique premise of a couple of characters in Queen Esther's court during and mostly after her time recorded in the Book of Esther. 

I had gone into it thinking it would just be sort of simultaneous to the story of Esther, but instead the book more fleshed out Esther as a queen and told more of a fictional story of afterwards. I really enjoyed it - it was unique, felt like it gave me more of a rounded concept of Esther, even though she was more peripheral than anything, and had some really great concepts of forgiveness, bravery, and trust. 

I thought the characters of Aiden and Roxanna were fleshed out well, and were written in a way that felt relatable and endearing. It wasn't a simple concept of everything easily working out for Roxanna, but showed great character growth in her learning how to deal with her fears and confidence. 

I also loved that it continued the story past the book of Esther. It gave me more of a feel for what could have happened and the landscape the Jews were in after the fact, as well as Esther and Xerxes. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine. 

Very cute rounding out of the Charlotte Oaks series and characters. Short and quick read!

Cute and quick, although both Mac and Georgie are awful at communicating! 

Beautiful writing in both story and description. It was such a poignant look at the early church and how much persecution they endured, and how much it changed everything for them in the way the had to live, but how it gave them purpose and compassion towards others despite their suffering. 

I loved both Demi’s and Nikolas’ perspectives and struggles, and how they fought for each other to realize redemption and Jesus’ true heart of acceptance and forgiveness towards his people, rather than a spiteful god we are afraid he will be - dolling out condemnation and rejection. Their stories of mistakes and failures were relatable and told beautifully. 

I actually had no idea this was a reimagined story about St Nickolas till maybe halfway thru, so that made the book even better. The irony is I read it the week before Christmas, so very fitting. I loved how Nikolas’ heart for others changed the trajectory of the church there to not be internalized and self-preserving but generous and accepting. 

Also, absolutely loved seeing Iris, Titus and Beatrix from Of Love and Treason. Book crossovers are my favorite. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine. 

I really liked the book as it progressed - super creepy, had me trying to figure out in moments whether Grady was crazy or if the Island was masterminded, and either way, the setup was creepy, dark, and mysterious by itself. The one part of the plot twist I thought was great - it did well playing to human nature assuming things even if it’s not said and I thought that was done well.  

But the other part of the plot twist of what happened that night felt too convenient or far fetched to be believable and doesn’t line up to the beginning of the book. 

There were a couple giant plot holes with that and another situation that you had to just accept for it to have worked out that way, or that it was ok to be wildly inconsistent. 

I wish it was just a little more fleshed out without the leaps and bounds. If it weren’t for 2 major plot holes I would have rated it 5 stars. I did enjoy it quite a bit regardless. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine. 

Hilarious and fun and heartwarming and deep. I loved the banter - not just between Liesel and Cooper but Liesel’s family was done so well, I was dying. I also loved that it was real and relatable with the difficulties they were working thru. Loved it. 

Parts of this were ok but I didn’t really connect with the characters and then towards the end it just honestly made me angry. It was like a showcase of what having no boundaries with toxic relationships, being a doormat and letting people manipulate you, looks like. It’s one thing when someone expresses remorse and asks for reconciliation, but it’s another when you’re constantly bending to everyone’s selfishness when they demand it. And the mom’s phone calls made it worse. 

Really loved both Juliet and Nate as characters, and their struggles and advocating for each other. While it was a Novella, which for me usually feel stilted or like I just walked into the middle of a story, this almost felt like a whole novel and I identified with and was fully invested in both MCs. I would have loved a longer book with both of them but it didn’t feel halfway done either. Really enjoyed it. 

This was a well done portrayal of 2 women’s perspectives on opposite sides of WW2, centering on the Theresienstadt ghetto, and the crazy way the Nazi’s used it for propaganda. 

I thought the voices of Hannah and Hilde were really personalized perfectly. So often I feel like books with dual perspective sound too similar between characters but this was beautifully done, helping you see the frustration and desperation of Hannah, and yet the utter arrogance and selfishness of Hilde. 

I didn’t realize this book carried over from Cradles of the Reich with Hilde’s character. Not technically a sequel but it could have been. I always like books that cross over characters - it helps me feel more invested in them, so that was a good surprise since I read that last year. 

I’ve read many WW2 books and have known of Theresienstadt in vague references but never directly read about it so this was a good new setting to learn about. The author did a great job explaining the misunderstanding the ghetto camp has, as being viewed as “not as bad” because of how it was portrayed as a giant lie to the outside world. Both the cunning and the depravity of the Nazis is still astounding to me. 

I will say I don’t really understand the title choice of the Glimmer Girls since that was only sort of a here and there background feature of the camp and the characters in it weren’t really known for that. I thought I was going to learn more about the mica mining but hardly did. But regardless, I thought it was well done and I’m glad I learned about this piece of the war and holocaust. 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.