Interesting and good historical content of intrigue and plotting from the mid 16th century Venice, as well as how society worked then with their strange societal landscape. I had thought there would be more of the female assassin focus but the bulk of the mystery/thriller aspect came in the second half. 

A lot of the book was painting the picture of a Venice Courtesan - basically a mix of a Geisha and a high end, well educated Escort or prostitute. I felt like most of the first half of the story was about Valentina’s and her fellow courtesan’s world with navigating all her clients - still interesting but not what I thought I was getting into. That being said, I enjoyed the second half a lot more than the first. 

I did enjoy the friendships and loyalty of the women in the book. It painted a great picture of having each other’s backs in a world of men. 

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

So fun, I was laughing on multiple occasions but also had great depth to the characters and situations. The supporting characters were perfect as well. My favorite was the dialogue and banter, reminds me of an Emily Henry book.

Great characters and storyline. I liked the dialogue and cheesy-in-a-good-way banter - it made it light and fun even thought the book dealt with heavy topics like domestic abuse, PTSD, shame from past mistakes, and a violent stalker. I really loved the peripheral characters in Kael and Jamie’s family and marine brothers as well. 

It was also fun to read about places and references in the book like Asheville and Newnan. 

Some of the transitions felt a little abrupt in the writing - going from super emotional in one sentence to fine or completely moved on in the next without any detail to help you move from one concept to the next, but overall I enjoyed the book. 

3.5 ⭐️s. The majority of the book follows 3 points of view and timelines, along with a prologue of a 4th, all tied together by water and an ancient Mesopotamian culture and language. I enjoyed how each story and perspective tied together, and how each character’s events led into the other’s chapter. It weaved together beautifully. 

I also liked that I learned a lot about Nineveh, Mesopotamia and their cultures, as well as the Yazidis and how they were consistently marginalized and persecuted. While I remember hearing about ISIS and the Kurdish people, I didn’t know enough context to understand what was going on and how horrific it was specifically, even knowing how incredibly evil ISIS is. 

However, the book itself was just really slow and often repetitive in the poetry and sort of proverb-like sections. While it allowed for the 3 timelines and characters to not be confusing or jolting, it also made the book drag. I really enjoyed Arthur’s and Narin’s stories but I just didn’t care for Zaleekah’s. I get that she was struggling with depression and the whole book had a melancholy feel, but hers really was just a very depressive, sort of wallowing compared to the other 2. I think I would have rated at 4 if not for her sections. 

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

 The book told the story well of fighting for family and a mother’s perseverance. Each member also searched for freedom in various ways that gave it character with various perspectives and potential circumstances. Overall I enjoyed the book but it was very slow so at times I struggled to stay engaged. 

The murder mystery tied to flowers was interesting, as was hearing about cocaine in the 20s with the upper class. It was briefly touched on being used in the war and I wish the historical info about that was touched on a little more. 

Overall I thought the book was a little drawn out and I started getting a little bored. I again like Saffron’s character most of the time like I did with the first book, but I love Elizabeth. Lee was just ok and while I liked his snarkiness, he was also annoying, and I felt like Ashton’s personality was too different from the last book and it just felt confusing. Also, I really don’t like love triangles. 

The main reason I read this and the first book was I was given the ARC of the 3rd and didn’t want to be confused dropped into a 3rd book but these were just ok. 

Deep and introspective. I loved how the slowness of the story allowed you to digest the depth. Such themes of acceptance and forgiveness and the contrast of unconditional love and what the opposite of it does to children who grow up to be adults. 

3.5⭐️s rounded up. Interesting and a good whodunit mystery. Is a good YA story. Not a lot of character development but the writing was good and it was an easy read. 

Such a fun book with tons of adventure, mystery and fantastic characters. Jasper and Esme were brilliant as they competed as high-end thieves with snarky and flirty dialogue and interaction, and plenty of history between themselves to work thru. 

I enjoyed their waffling between competing and when absolutely necessary, teaming up for a hot second at different times, as well as the quirky situations they got themselves into. I thought the ending was perfect and equally entertaining yet endearing. 

Overall it was a lighter story - the characters dealt with their own issues and struggles but the focus was more on the action and adventure as well as the tension between them more than anything. All in all it was an enjoyable and highly entertaining book. 

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

Fascinating and so sad but also hopeful. I loved the perspective of both mom and daughter hiding out, surviving any way they could and also the struggle of trying to reunite after the war was over. I can’t even imagine with being in a world now where so much information is at our fingertips and they only had word of mouth and notes on bulletin boards. Insane. 

I also appreciated the realistic mental warring of Roza as a mom - it was so real and relatable - and the child-like battle of her daughter.  Really well written and unfolded.