nicolealycia's Reviews (959)

Tao, the teller of small fortunes, travels the countryside in her wagon telling fortunes to those willing to hear them. In her travels she meets some unlikely companions, helping one to find his missing daughter. Along the way she discovers who she truly is and the importance of the friendships she forms along the way. 
I loved so much of this! The characters were great, I love stories that involve traveling about, and I love books that involve fortune telling! I loved the friendships formed and the adventures they went on along the way. 
The only thing I didn’t love about this book was the length of the chapters. As someone who can be easily distracted when reading they were waaaay too long. Most of them could have easily been 2 or 3 chapters that were 10 pages long instead of 1 chapter that was 30+ pages long. It made the book drag at times, in my opinion. 

Other than that I highly recommend this one if you’re looking for a cozy fantasy with no spice and lots of friendship and traveling adventures!

This book had a super interesting concept and I really wanted to love it but I felt like it dragged a lot around the middle. The book is about a pandemic that causes recoverees to be happy and content all the time. People who haven’t contracted Crown Royale are terrified of what it could do to the world as a whole, causing economic infrastructure to crash. But recoverees just want to spread the virus to everyone…

Again, I wanted to love this one but I just didn’t. Parts were too long and the characters weren’t that interesting. Some parts were kinda scary to think about but overall it just wasn’t my favorite. 

A heartbreaking story about what is was like to be unwed and married in 1970. Taking place in a home for wayward girls, the story focuses on 15 year old “Fern” who is sent away after her parents find out she is pregnant. This is the story of her and the friends she made in the home and what they did to try to reclaim some sense of power in their lives, resorting to witchcraft to do so. 
This story was so heartbreaking and so moving that I could have honestly done without the witchcraft in it. The supernatural touches were nice but the actual story was what made this book so good. It’s so sad to hear about what girls like that went through … they were the only ones who had to face the consequences of their actions and had to make such difficult decisions at an age they never should have had to. 
I definitely recommend this one if you’re interested in witchy historical fiction!

Narration: 5/5 🌟
I never knew much about the Presley family before going into this, obviously I’d heard of Elvis but that’s where my knowledge ended. 
Being the child of someone as famous as Elvis could not have been easy and it really showed. There was so much tragedy in Lisa Marie Presley’s life and she struggled with so much at such a young age. 
I loved hearing Riley’s side of the story as well, it made the story that much more moving. She added so much insight to the life of her mother. I learned so much about both of them and I really enjoyed it!

This is a well crafted story about wealth and power and what it takes to achieve and keep both. It’s an intricately woven story of personal struggles and family struggles. 
William Carter Jr. came from nothing and realized that to become someone important you have to take what you want. Decades and billions of dollars later, his legacy is at risk when someone starts digging into the past of the company he worked so hard to build. 

I have nothing against this book personally, I just don’t think it’s something I can fully appreciate. I think, for the correct audience, this book can be incredibly powerful. Unfortunately I’m just not that audience so this one fell flat with me. I couldn’t connect with the struggles of any of the characters and couldn’t fully understand the trials they went through. 

If you enjoy books about power struggles and intricate family dynamics then this book is definitely for you!

I don’t think I enjoyed this one as much as the first and I think that was because I was trying to read 2 books at once instead of focusing solely on this book…
I really enjoyed Callyn’s chapters in the book and really liked the way we saw her character develop throughout the book. I wish we would have gotten more of her but I feel like this book was mostly focused on Tycho and Jax. Part of the reason I didn’t enjoy this one as much was because I wasn’t a fan of Jax in this book. I thought his character seemed really immature at times and made no effort to grow. He attempted to adapt at times to the situation around him but for most of the book he was so sullen and constantly feeling sorry for himself that it made him an unsympathetic character. 
Tycho’s story could be annoying at times but we saw a lot more development from him in this one, especially at the end of the book. 
I’d really like to see more of Callyn in the next story because I’m so interested to see what happens with her! 

Overall I really enjoyed this one! I thought it was fast paced and a very quick read. I loved the rural Vermont setting and all the different characters stories playing out in real time as you read the book. I will say it was a lot of characters to keep track of and some were less memorable than others so they could be tough to remember right away. 
Otherwise I thought this was a really good read. I did figure out who dunnit before the story ended but it definitely wasn’t obvious to me at any point and I loved that! My guess was, just that, a guess! I was excited to be right though! 
I’m definitely becoming a fan of Lapena’s writing and will be reading more of their books in the future!

I definitely liked this one better than Iron Flame but I’m struggling with exactly how I feel about it ….
There were parts I absolutely loved and parts that I could have done without. Ridoc is my new favorite character and my newest book boyfriend and was my favorite part of the book. Xaden and Violet are starting to grate on my a bit but I’m so curious to find out what happens with them next. 
And what was with that ending?!
I will say I loved having some chapters from the perspective of different characters and would love to see that more in the future books!
So curious to see where this series goes from here 

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the small English village vibes and the flashbacks intertwined throughout! I kinda saw the ending coming but I don’t mind that at all. I love the way the story was told and I enjoyed the characters that made up the story!
Looking forward to reading the next book!

A tale spanning generations, from WWII to the 1970s
What would you do if war was coming and you had the chance to send you child to safety? Would you send them away?
In 1940 Beatrix, a young girl from London, is sent to live with the Gregory family just outside of Boston until the end of the war. The story that unfolds is one of growing up in the most unexpected way, of finding yourself in the hardest of times, of learning to love where you didn’t expect to. 
A truly captivating story about love and loss and war and peace. I thought the story got a little slow around the halfway point but I really enjoyed reading about all the different people and what they went through. There’s so much love and grief and self discovery woven into the pages of this book. 
If you enjoy historical fiction that focuses more on the people of that time than the time itself this one is absolutely for you!