This is my third Rachel Hawkins book and I truly expected it to follow the predecessors but this is something new. It seems to be marketed as a thriller, but it's more central genre is family drama and all the secrets they are hiding from each other, more akin to a mystery. I truly liked it, even if it wasn't what I was expecting when starting this book. 

Camden McTavish is the adopted son of the notorious Ruby McTavish, a heiress to an enormous fortune and a famous mansion named the Ashby House in a small town. Ruby has had her own celebrity status due to being kidnapped at a young age, and later marrying and being widowed by four different men. Ruby's nickname behind closed doors was Mrs. Kill-more. His mother had passed and Camden has been ignoring his remaining family after he inherited the fortune that he wants nothing to do with. He had married and created a separate life for 10 years, but our book starts when he returns to Tavistock with his wife, Jules. The remaining McTavish family includes Ruby's sister Nelle, and her grandchildren Ben and Libby, Camden's cousins. Those three are extremely upset at being cut out of the will and wanting Camden's inheritance over anything. 

This book jumps between Jules and Camden's perspectives, letters that Ruby wrote to an undisclosed person, and news articles about Ruby's life. We learn more about her husbands through these letters as Camden and Jules return to Ashby House, where Jules loves it and Camden wants nothing more than to leave. Every person in this story is hiding secrets, with Ruby's entire life shrouded in mystery. Her stories and the writing style reminded me of the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, not that they are extremely comparable, but that is the same style of writing when hearing Ruby talk about her life and each husband.  

I really liked the last couple of twists at the end and I enjoyed the two main characters. For the most part, a lot of their motivations are hidden and there's secrets everywhere that Camden and Jules have both hidden from each other. By the end of this book, you don't really like anyone except for Camden and Jules (although she is debatable). The super fun part of this book was just hearing about Ruby's life and watching as all of the secrets came out and the next twist. It was super fast paced with good pacing and each chapter jumped between all the different POVs in a way that had me turning the page. 

I'm a little frustrated with Camden's secrets at the end, because it really wasn't that "huge" or comparable to any of the family members and Jules. But I would say the ending is really good and I overall really enjoyed this one! 

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! 

This is by far my favorite Emily Henry book and I can't believe it was one of the last ones I read! I will say, I still don't quite understand the title haha, but it was such a fun read. 

We follow January as she moves to a lakehouse her father left her after his death. She is a romance writer who has writer's block and is trying to use the summer to write and provide her agent with another manuscript. This is after she found out her father had bought this house for his mistress while her mother and his wife had cancer. January is reeling from this and doesn't feel she believes in love enough to write a happily ever after. Enter Augustus (Gus) who writes books that are the opposite of happily ever afters. He was her college rival and he ends up being her new next door neighbor. They decide to make a bet where each writer writes the opposite genre. January will write an existentialist book with a sad ending, and Gus has to write a happily ever after.

More than any of her other books, I feel like this couple just truly fits in a relationship together and I could believe easily in their romance. Outside of the romance, this book just handles tougher subjects so well. Knowing her father was a cheater, but having so many good memories and loving him outside of that is hard for January. It really delves into the themes of what love is and how we accept other the parts of people that are inherently bad. 

The supporting characters were great and provided a lot of the lightness and comedic relief in this novel. I really enjoyed the setting and fast pacing. For me, I really like reading about how writers write and how they get their inspiration/writing process. Regarding the romance, it was pretty slow and we are more than halfway before the characters even kiss. 

Altogether, I really enjoyed this one!

This is a fantasy and historical story loosely based and a retelling of Beowulf. Personally, I hadn't read that beforehand/knew the story, so I went in blind on that front and cannot draw comparisons between the two. 

This story follows Fryda, a chieftain's daughter in the period of the late 900 CE to early 1000 CE. All she wants is to become a shield maiden, but a horrible accident causes makes it near impossible to reach her dream. However, she begins to feel a strange power growing inside her. Her father, Weohstan hosts the King Beowulf and other leaders to his village to feast and celebrate. During this time, Fryda learns of a conspiracy and has to do what she can to protect her people. Based on what I know of the time, I do think it's pretty accurate historically, the author did a great job of implementing this! I do see a lot of people saying the book is YA, personally I think it goes more into the adult range due to the language, gore, maturity, and sexual content. 

There are a LOT of POVs in this book, especially at the beginning. I counted seven, where we have the main character, Fryda, and the slave Theow. There are also perspectives from the dragon, indentured servant Hild, the blacksmith Bryce, King Beowulf, and Fryda's brother Wiglaf. These tend to taper off as we get further in the book, mostly focusing on our main characters Theow and Fryda. I do think they are helpful to gaining information about the world and relationships, but it's just a lot in the beginning to switch back and forth and get your bearings. It is also very slow paced in the beginning, but once we get to some action, the plot jumps forward and things start happening with a purpose. 

I thought Fryda was wonderfully developed. We see her struggle with her disability, but gaining confidence over time. A lot of attention is drawn to how she hides her hand from others at the start, especially around Theow. She cares very much about the staff of slaves and servants in her household, but she is quite naive (a little too much to be believable) about the poor treatment of them and always seems shocked when she learns about her brother's misdeeds and when a servant is treated horribly. Towards the end, Fryda gains agency and control of her life and decisions. I really enjoyed the romance in this novel as well between Fryda and Theow. It is forbidden and it's cute to see the little connections between them. 

I really enjoyed this book once the action and plot took off! There were battles and a dragon fight and it was thoroughly entertaining and kept me engaged. I just felt the novel started off very weak. Overall, I do recommend this if you are looking to read a fantasy novel in this time period. 

Thank you to Redhook Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This is a revenge story that makes it very hard to empathize with the main characters. It's a twisty thriller mixed with a bit of murder mystery. Chloe, Annabel, Tanya, and Esther were friends through secondary school (high school) but have somewhat drifted apart through their adulthood. 10 years later, they receive an invite from Poppy Greer, a woman they bullied in high school, to her bachelorette party on a remote island in the Bahamas. They all decide to go, even if they aren't sure of Poppy's intentions and why she is inviting them. As they arrive, secrets come out that all of them have shared and they all have to face them on a remote island with no outside communication.

We do get flashbacks through Poppy's journal to see what happened in the past 10 years ago. This helps provide context to the situation and exactly what these women did to her. The main point of views switch between the four characters. One thing is certain, you don't like ANY of the main characters. By the end of the book, they have no redeeming qualities and they did some pretty awful stuff. 

I would say the action picks up pretty quickly and it's a fast paced story. There is a ton of cattiness that emerges from the beginning and just drama that keeps you turning the pages. Halfway through the book, it's pretty evident what the big reveal is and I feel like a lot of the hinting was pretty obvious. Despite that, I just enjoyed the chaos that was this book. It's nothing revolutionary, but very enjoyable and a fast thriller to read. 

I think all the rage right now is dragons, and it was fun to read something else other than that! Who knew how cool phoenix riders could be?

This book mainly follows Veronyka and her dream of being a phoenix rider. 16 years before, the empire was torn between two sisters who each claimed the throne this led to both their deaths and the extinction of phoenix riders. The Council now rules the empire as the royal family has become extinguished. Veronyka lives with her sister, Val, as they both search for phoenix eggs. Veronyka learns of a training camp for phoenix riders, but they only take boys, so she disguises herself as one in order to join. 

I thought this story was very unique and I also enjoyed the magic system. It's pretty basic with most magical users being animages, meaning they can build connections with animals and even command them. The stronger ones can bond with phoenixes, and then become the renowned phonex riders. 

This book has three POVs, Veronyka, Tristan, who is a phoenix rider in training at the camp, and Sev, who is a soldier in the empire's army. Sev's POV was very hard for me to read as it felt removed from the main story. Eventually it ties into to all three POVs and is essential for the story, but it was hard not to give into the impulse to skip ahead. 

I also really wished for more actual phoenix riding in this. Veronyka spends more of her time training for becoming an apprentice than actually learning how to become a phoenix rider. However, her and Tristan's development is well done as Tristan learns how to face his fear of fire and Veronyka learns how to be less dependent on her manipulative sister, Val. Val is a straight up sociopath and I'm very intrigued to see what is going to happen to the sisters in the sequel. 

I loved this book, and surprisingly one aspect I really loved in this book was the characters. We follow Kara who moves back to her Uncle's Museum to help out since he is having health issues. When living there and working, she discovers a hole in the drywall that she decides to explore with the next door worker of the coffee shop and new friend, Simon. They find and explore an alternate world, but this new realm isn't safe, and there are mysterious creatures that haunt it.

One thing extremely unique that I loved about this book was the characters and the relationships between them. You can't help loving everyone (except for Kara's newly divorced ex-husband) and that includes Simon, Kara, Uncle Earl, and even the barn/museum cat named Beau. The dynamic between Kara and Simon was very refreshing in a horror book, and there are times that the writing style and their dialogue cracked me up. It provided comical relief throughout the book.

"We're going to die here, aren't we?" "Yeah, we probably are." He said it so matter-of-fact and resigned that it helped. We were going to die.

The writing style and character dialogue was just fun, and they act a lot more reasonable than I think a lot of horror books paint characters as.

While definitely a horror book, I would say it was more eerie and tense rather than jump scares or horrible creatures everywhere. It was the anticipation of something is going to happen, and overall just creepy vibes. The first 50% was very fast paced and there is so much happening that you start to dread that the characters aren't going to make it. I think there were some issues with pacing, but it didn't take me out of the book and I enjoyed the overall plot and story. 

The ending was amazing though, and it surprisingly is very heartwarming as well? This book combines fun and scary in an amazing way and I can't recommend it enough. If you want a horror book, but are also looking for some cozy vibes, this is the one. 

This book has been described as a horror and gothic twist on the fairytale, the Juniper Tree. Going into this, I wasn't familiar with the story, so it mostly was a gothic fantasy to me.

It was very gory and gruesome, with deeply unsettling writing. There is a lot of sexualization in this book, so please check the trigger warnings for this and the violence. The prose however, is beautiful and I found it very engrossing to where I read this book in one sitting. It's interesting how the author can describe settings in a whimsical manner, whereas the subject matter of the book is very dark.

We follow Marlinchen, the youngest sister of a trio of witches who live with their father, the only wizard in Oblya left. Oblya is a city rapidly growing and the setting insinuates that it is going through its own Industrial Revolution, with many businesses and commercial industries moving into the city. According to Marlinchen, she is not the prettiest or smartest out of her sisters, and we learn as the story goes on that she is deeply insecure. All of the sisters live with their father, who is tyrannical and is under a horrible curse, which in turn leads him to treat them horribly and lock them within the house.

"You should know, of course, there are only two kinds of mothers in stories, and if you are a mother, you are either wicked or dead."

Marlinchen's sisters are not kind, and because of this she faces her own insecurities when comparing herself to them. She meets and becomes enamored with Sevas, the Principal ballet dancer when sneaking away into the city at night. It is a bit lust at first sight, but I do believe their interactions allowed Marlinchen to gain confidence in her own body and her decisions. 

I really enjoyed all of the characters and learning how Marlinchen sees them, as I do feel like there is a bit of an unreliable narrator aspect to this. One character I felt that wasn't fleshed out was Undine, but we don't spend as much time with her as her other sister Rose. There is a big plot twist towards the end, which if paying attention throughout the book, there were signs that made it all make sense at the end. I did enjoy the final ending and I do feel like this book just explores Marlinchen's development and growth so well. 

It is an uncomfortable read, especially with all of the hard topics it covers, with a main point being the abuse Marlinchen suffers, but the writing is beautiful and I very much enjoyed the plot and the ending. Definitely recommend, but make sure this book is the one for you and the headspace you are in.  

I found this book to be very relatable. Mostly this is due to my age and the experiences I had with relationships in high school, but because of this, I enjoyed it. This book follows Autumn and Finny, as they grow up and how their relationship changes. Their mothers are best friends and have houses on the same street, meaning Finny and Autumn grow up together as best friends. Once high school hits, they begin to drift apart. The majority of this story follows their four years in high school. 

The beginning of the book indicates the ending (as well as the title), so you understand going through it that there may not be a happy ending. Autumn is the only POV, so we see everything through her eyes. In high school, she becomes part of the "weird clique" and starts dating Jamie whereas Finny is popular with his own group of friends. Her thoughts and feelings regarding her relationship with Jamie hit home to me, and just the way they spoke to each other. The repeated "I love yous" and how their life is planned before the end of high school and how that affected Autumn's own choices about her future. I can understand why others think of it as cringey or not believable, but it was for me. 

The book had me sometimes screaming at the Autumn to think about her relationship with Finny, but she is caught up in societal expectations and what is expected of her in high school. I think with Finny's POV, we would have more characterization to him and understanding. 

The ending was sad, but I didn't cry and this was an area I felt the book really let me down. It ends so quickly and doesn't give you time to fully grasp what happened and the fallout. It left me feeling really disappointed and it was so rushed. I heard a sequel was coming out, but it sounds like the same book from the POV of Finny? I want there to be more after the ending of the first book and see what actually happens next, so I'm unsure if I will read the sequel.