Winterwood is a fast read that is written in more of a lyrical style. It took me about a hundred pages to really connect with the characters and stories. Once I did I enjoyed the story overall. It was a short and interesting read, but not a major hit with me. I had 99% of the ending figured out by 190 pages and was appalled at myself for not having it figured out earlier. It was pretty obvious.

There was one major issue I had with the book. One of the main settings is a residential camp for troubled boys. I have a daughter with mental health issues that has frequented longer term facilities and I can guarantee that none of them would be run like this camp. It was unrealistic that there would be that much access to alcohol and so little supervision if the camp was really a rehabilitative camp. It was actually insulting to the individuals that work tirelessly at such facilities. The story could have been rewritten to be more realistic, it would have been harder but it would have made for a better story overall.

I also absolutely love the cover, both the original cover and the Owlcrate edition that I own.

I have heard nothing but amazing reviews of Serpent & Dove. It made be both excited and apprehensive to pick up this book. However, I am glad that I finally made time to read it.

I was not instantly taken with S&D. I think a huge part of this is that the book has a heavy focus on the romance aspect - and I prefer my novels without romance. Or, at least with romance being a subplot rather than the primary point of the novel. I know this is a personal opinion, and one probably not highly shared, but it did impact my connection with the book some.

The book itself is wonderfully written. I love a good character based novel, and this one was nearly there for me. I was impressed with the world building and dynamics of the plot. I completely understand and support the rave reviews even though this book is not entirely my thing. I will say, that even so, I plan on reading the next book in the series. I have a small hope that it will be a little less focused on the romance and more on the world dynamics.

I put off reading Uprooted for a long time - at least half a year. I read Spinning Silver and enjoyed the book, but was not taken with it. Then I read Her Majesty's Dragon - ready to start on an epic series read. Except, I almost DNF'ed the book and did not continue on in the series. So, I stayed away from Uprooted for far too long.

If you only read one of Novik's novels then I would suggest you read Uprooted - although then you will naturally go on to read Spinning Silver. I really enjoyed this book and found myself sucked into the world building and characters.

At times, especially near the end, the book became a bit more mystical and harder to follow. It ended up loosing me a bit, which was sad since I had enjoyed it so much to that point.

I switched back and forth between the print version and the audio version and I enjoyed both equally. There was a strong voice in the print version and it naturally flowed to the narrator. The narrator also did a wonderful job capturing the tone of the book.

I love this series, but I read the this book for a readathon and ended up bing reading it to finish it in time. This was a disservice to the book. Thankfully, I know that this is a series that I will end up picking up many times.

V.E. Schwab is an author that I have fallen in love with this year. Her work is amazing and one of my goals is to read everything she has written by the end of 2020.

Overall, this is an amazing story and an excellent conclusion to the series.

I absolutly adore this series, and each time I do a reread I adore it even more. Reading this book is like coming home - well to a home that you like. One of Harrison's main strengths is in her characters. She has a wide variety of characters and each one is unique and real.

The nice thing about books is that you can always revisit characters that you have missed. There are characters in this third book that drop out of the series at a later point, and it was amazing reading about them again. Especially since they are one of my favorite characters in the book.

If you have enjoyed the first two books, then you should move on to book three. It is just as strong as the first two books in the series.

I absolutely loved this book. It was book humor at it's finest. I personally found it extremely relatable and it put me in a better mood.

I borrowed this book from my library, but this is one that I would be happy to have on my shelf. I would find myself reading it over and over again. It would be perfect if you are in a reading slump, to remind yourself why you loved reading.

It is a bit slanted towards paper readers, but as I read in all formats I enjoyed the overall love of reading present through the book. Also, I do still enjoy my paper books.

I read this book in one day, and I am not sure how. It was a weekend, but those are still very busy with children. I just kept picking it up every free second that I got. It was fast, fun, and different then so many other books I have been reading.

The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a fantasy contemporary and an adaptation of the Christmas Carol. Holly was visited by the ghosts of Christmas and utterly failed at turning around her life. So, she died and was brought on to be the ghost of Christmas past.

I adore the ending, especially how Holly explained it. I admit that I wish more books went that route, especially YA books. A great holiday read, if you are into Christmas inspired stories.

Rating - 3 1/2 stars

It took me a while to finish this book. I had a hard time connecting to it, and about four chapters in switched from Kindle to audio. I tried going back to Kindle, but found I preferred the audio. The characters all seemed to jumble in my mind, and the audio at least helped with the distinction. Although, even then I had difficulty keeping them apart.

I really enjoyed the world, and it helped that the reader was being introduced to it the same time as the MC. However, it also left me being just as confused as the MC. I wonder who the audience for this book is. The characters are MG age, but the plot reads more like YA or Adult.