A cosy, easy going story about an orc barbarian who leaves her life of adventuring to start a coffee shop. The story feels like a dungeons and dragons game where the party decided to do the exact opposite of what the dungeon master is hoping they'd do.

Slow going in the first half but I loved the second. A sweet story and a nice palate cleanser between other books. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ as it made me smile, despite an unimpressive beginning.

To keep him in her life, teenage Callie asks for a bunch of favours from the mysterious fairies king, The Bargainer, aka Dez. For each small favour, she owes him a massive unnamed debt. Then he leaves. Throw in a minor Midwich Cuckoos type side quest that brings him back into her life and you've got a not very good romantasy.

The relationship between Dex and Callie read toxic as anything. The details about her stepfather felt unnecessary and it just wasn't enjoyable. Not for me so ⭐ from me.

Deliciously creepy

A cutesy children's book in which nothing much happens. Opal, a preacher's daughter, finds a scruffy dog whilst picking up groceries. She names the dog after the shop, Winn-Dixie. It's a gentle book whose main aim seems to be to be clean and upstanding. It reads like a story written 60 years ago rather than one published in 2000. It's all railroad tracks, egg salad sandwiches, 'the preacher said' and "Daddy, oh Daddy what should we do?"

I needed a book that was published 24 years ago for the Pop Sugar 2024 reading challenge. I saw this for the prompt and knowing it was a classic dog based book, I thought I'd give it a go. I mean, it worked for the prompt but honestly, I'll struggle to tell you what happened in it by tomorrow. It's an obvious ⭐ for me.

Bloody hell, I should have known that this would have me in tears.

Lily the dachshund has an octopus on her head. I don't want to give too much away and ruin the plot but this was a hard read for me. Magical realism aside, it's the story of Ted and his last few weeks with his 12 year old dachshund Lily. In parts I wished someone was there to be a friend to Ted. Maybe it's because of the whippets. I'd fall apart if they ever had octopi on their heads.

Read this book if you want a touching story with the odd funny moment. Originally, I rated this book two stars because, with the subject matter, I can't say I enjoyed it. This said, it's popped into my mind a few times since so it's clearly stayed with me. I've upped my rating to ⭐⭐⭐ because despite my issues with it, it still managed to kick me in my feelings.

It's sweet and odd, and at times it's frankly bizarre. Ultimately though, it'll break your heart.

A bit overhyped. The book starts strong but trails off towards the end. The descriptions of food were numerous and some plot points felt like the were never fleshed out properly. For example,

the main characters best friend moves in with someone she believes to be a child molester without telling anyone where she's going (and from points from a potential/convicted serial killer) and becomes obsessed with pleasing him. She's clearly struggling when she's pulled away from this and... No one seems to do anything? Like what? She's just praised lots for following the story (when she doesn't even work as a journalist) and then everyone just moves on.