The Paris Wife is a beautifully written fictional take on Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage. But, it’s written from Hadley’s point of view, as if she were writing it all down herself. It’s an interesting angle to take for this narrative - I liked it. And it’s so well written, I could easily imagine that it really had been written by her. Her emotions are on display, through their first meeting to when Ernest’s affair comes to light. You can feel the betrayal come right off the page. She deserved so much better. Side note - Einstein did the exact same thing to his first wife. Why are these brilliant men so dense when it comes to their personal relationships?! But I digress…

McLain appears to have a great talent for world building. I felt like I was there in Paris and Pamplona, along side the Hemingways through their journey. It made me wish I could go and see it myself. There’s a richness to the descriptions of those places, which makes any commentary on North America (and their time there) seem dull and grey by comparison.

The only thing that fell short was the pacing - this is a book you can’t rush through (even if you wanted to). But other than that - perfection.

I’ve been having a round of good luck with books lately - The Witch of Willow Hall is definitely a page turner.

It’s a fantastic blend of paranormal, gothic romance and historical fiction. I think the word ‘haunting’ would be an accurate description of the tale. It has a bit of a Rebecca vibe to it, which I absolutely love.

I literally could not put this book down. I read it on the subway, while walking down the street, while visiting the aquarium… It was just that good.

The setting description/world building was stunning, and the deeply layered characters quickly drew me in. Lydia’s grief jumps off the page; I found myself grieving with her. And I felt disgust at the depths Catherine would go to in order to get her way.

There was only one aspect that didn’t sit well with me - the ending was a little too neat for my liking. With the darker tone of the rest of the book, I expected the end to follow along the same lines. But that didn’t happen. Instead, the story ends on a hopeful note, which normally wouldn’t be a bad thing, but it didn’t seem to fit this particular story. Thankfully, it’s a minor hiccup; the rest of the book more than makes up for it.

Another spooky/supernatural book by Grady Hendrix? Yes please!

Last year I fell in love with Horrorstör and My Best Friend's Exorcism. Hendrix has a way with words - they pull you in and engulf you whole. I read his latest, We Sold Our Souls, in a single sitting - I could not put it down. One particular scene stood out for me: Kris’ escape through Black Iron Mountain. It was incredibly claustrophobic and gave me anxiety just reading about it. To be honest, just thinking about it again makes me feel a bit nauseous! The story is definitely not for the faint of heart.

The central focus of the book is Kris and her love of music. I unfortunately don’t have much of an ear for it - repetitive chords or lyrics are like nails on a chalkboard for me. But even I could feel the soul and passion behind Kris’ songs.

The ending was pretty interesting - it was left vague and kind of open ended. It was a great choice; I don’t think a solid resolution would have fit as well. Overall, this book is a fantastic nail-biter.

3.5 stars.

Well, I did it. I finally caved and read A Darker Shade of Magic. And it was… pretty good! I actually ended up reading the whole series - I couldn’t stop. 😂

Schwab’s books have always been a bit iffy for me - I can’t seem to get into a lot of them. But I was determined to approach these with an open mind. Overall, it’s a great story with a really unique plot. It kind of reminded me of Bardugo’s Six of Crows. Not necessarily in content, but it has a similar vibe/tone to it. It certainly has the same high level of world building and character development.

The only part that could have used some work was the pacing - it really dragged at times. The story line definitely could have used a bit of paring down to tighten it all up. There was some marginal improvement in the other books, but they still could have benefited from the extra editing.

But hey, at least now I know what the heck people are talking about when they say ‘As Travars’! Seriously though, I think I’ll give Schwab’s work another shot and maybe check out Vicious.

I’ve noticed a bit of a pattern with my book reviews. Usually a five star read for me is the kind of book that rips your heart out and stomps on it. The Impossible Girl breaks that pattern - it didn’t make me cry, but it is perfect.

Kang has written about a pretty gruesome, yet fascinating part of history - a time of body snatching, where fresh corpses were sold to medical schools for dissection. The people who did the grave digging were called resurrectionists, and business was booming. The Impossible Girl focuses on 19th century New York, and a girl in hiding with two hearts - a very attractive target for the more ruthless men of the trade.

Cora Lee, the only female resurrectionist in the city, seems to spend her life straddling two worlds: the daytime world of the living, and the nighttime world of stealing the dead. It’s an odd choice, being involved in a job where you could also end up being the prize. But she pulls it off with style. However, hiding in plain sight means she can only trust a select few people in her life. She’s a wonderfully complex character - Kang has a great talent for characterization.

Her world building skills are also right up there - I felt completely immersed in the New York City of that time period. And the story itself has a nice balance of drama paired with the minutia of 19th century medicine. Kang is actually a physician, and she doesn’t hold back on the medical terms and the gore that goes hand in hand with medical school at that time in history. Even her explanation of Cora’s two hearts is fascinating stuff.

But The Impossible Girl is also a mystery, and it kept me guessing the whole way through. There are a couple of BIG reveals that left me stunned - I didn’t see either coming. I love when that happens.

Lydia Kang has previously written a book following similar themes - A Beautiful Poison. I definitely need to track it down!