wordsofclover's Reviews (2.16k)

Daughter of Winter and Twilight is the spin-off book from Helen Corcoran's debut YA fantasy novel Queen of Coin and Whispers which followed young queen Lia as she had to battle court politics, and a system used to lazy and corrupt sovereigns, while also dealing with growing feelings for her new spymaster Xania. Now almost twenty years later, we follow Emri, Xania and Lia's adopted daughter and heir to the throne of Edar as she struggles with what her future holds, and who will be by her side. But when Emri and her cousin Melisande are kidnapped by the winter goddess Lady Winter, they realise that magic is real and they need to depend on each other to survive.

I loved this so much. I loved Queen of Coin and Whisper for its politics, the elements of spymaster and the romance between Xania and Lia but dare I say I think I enjoyed DOWAT even more. I also don't think you have to read QOCAW before reading this as you can understand what is going on easy enough without knowing the full details of Lia and Xania's story and therefore Emri's. It definitely helps but is not a neccessity.

I love how magic was introduced in this book, especially as it is something like many fantasy books that was just talked about in stories and legends originally. So I loved that Helen Corcoran decided to make it real again, and in the most terrifying way. Lady Winter is not really a goddess you want to be enemies with but also she's not who you want on your side either as she's cruel and ruthless to all. She was honestly terrifying and I loved the thrill of being scared by her.

I enjoyed the bonds being forged in this book from those between Emri and Melisande (that had orignally being broken in childhood due to shared trauma), and then also those between Emri, Gabrielle and Theo. There are hints of romance in this book, mostly Emri still feeling heartbroken by her first love but I loved the gentle beginnings of something between her and Theo - and Theo was the cutest boy/future consort in the world. Someone who will hold your bag on the red carpet while the paps take their pics (in a world of Kens, he's an Alan).

Loved the adventure (as well as the real side of quests such as hygiene, body hair and periods) and the diverseness in this book as well (characters appear to range from bi/pan, ace, sapphic as well as mentions of non-binary rulers. They are also a range of skin types and backgrounds - not everyone is blonde, blue-eyed). There were so many fantastic threads started in this story for something truly epic to happen in the future and I can't wait to see what comes next. 

When Maggie, Simone and Star's father passes away, the estranged sisters have to come together in the town they spent every summer childhood in to say goodbye to the father they loved, but felt like they hardly knew. When Augustus's will is read, the sisters find out they have to work together to create the perfect Winter Festival for the town before they can rightfully inherit. The time together as the Christmas period settles in gives the sisters a chance to reconnect.

Another lovely Christmas novel from Jenny Bayliss. I really liked this cosy tale complete with an eccentric town that could rival Star's Hollow, sisterly friendship and strong bonds and some romance scattered throughout.

I always think Jenny Bayliss's strength is the wonderful settings she always creates in her books and Rowan Thorp reminded me a bit of Blexford from The Twelves Dates of Christmas (I would love to know if there are any Easter eggs in Bayliss' novels to suggest her books are all set in the same world). A picture perfect Cotswold type of town where everyone knows everyone and they all stand up for each other - what could be better. I did find there were a couple of too many similarities from The Twelve Dtes including the 'Cussy Crocheters' which was a little bit too similar to the Knitting Sex Kittens in a previous novel.

I loved the sister friendship in this book as well as some really honest and refreshing chats around motherhood, infertility and abortion which I appreciated. I did find Maggie and Joe's relationship slightly tedious as Maggie's concerns bordered on very repetitive due to the age gap, her obsession with the fact she was menopausing and her constant put downs about herself particularly her thighs. It might have been better if we were introduced to the relationship at the start when the chemistry was sizzling before anything happened other than right in the middle of it.

Overall, I enjoyed this one and Jenny Bayliss is a Christmas reading staple for me! 

Not my favourite Karen Swan book, unfortunately.

In The Christmas Postcards, we follow a young woman called Natasha who is devastated and stressed when she accidentally leaves her 3-year-old daughter's precious toy Moolah behind in an Air BnB in Vienna. Following a social media search, she soon finds out that Moolah was found by Duffy, a man currently trekking through Nepal on an emotional, soul-searching journey. The two exchange 'postcards' as a way to help Nats' daughter Mabel with her loss. We also flash back to Nats' hen do when she was having cold feet about her marriage and a met a man called Tom who changed everything for her.

This was fine for me. The writing was good as Karen Swan books always are, a nice Christmassy setting between snowy Nepalese mountains and a cosy Cotswold village, and an interesting past time/job belonging to main characters from animal artist Nats to literal mountain climber Duffy. I think of the main problems I had with this was I just didn't like Nats at all - I found her spoiled, whiny and honestly fairly idiotic for most of the book - and her overbearing parenting style just really irritated me as well but kids in books aren't always my favourite (though I find Karen Swan does them better than most).

It's fairly obvious from the start what the connection between Nats and Duffy is, other than Moolah, and while flashbacks reveal that story and everything that happened all those years ago we also learn about the not so great present the two of them are living in. Duffy clearly has severe emotional baggage due to a lot of family trauma and Nats' marriage is clearly not very good just by going with all the red flags being planted by her husband Rob (never there - literally, doesn't want her to go back to work and have an independent income of her own, expects sex constantly, not understanding Nats' grief over not being able to conceive a second child). I'm actually kind of surprised I was right when it came to Rob from quite early on, though after a while all the clues add up big time and it's really very dramatic, not quite realistic (especially how long this went on for - but also how did Nats have no suspicions about the lack of friends, family, colleagues etc).

I will say cheating is a big part of this book from many different angles, past and present, physical and emotional. I know this is is something that turns off a lot of people and most of the time, I'm find with it but it was just a lot in this book and it was kind of topped off with the cherry on the cake that was the Mabel reveal. Yes, what Rob did was utterly despicable but he was still Mabel's dad for 3 years and to suddenly know he wasn't, and to not be in her life anymore just felt very cruel to me. And I wondered what the long term effect something like this would have on a child..

So this was fine, nice to have another Karen Swan ticked off the list as I've made it a Christmas/December tradition (though might have to start doing it for her summer books too) but overall not my favourite one by far. 

Jimmy Rabbitte Sr is struggling to decide on his next step after he is made redundant and feels like a spare part in his own house. As wife Veronica turns to studying, and his son Jimmy Rabbitte Jr is doing well enough for himself to spare a few bob to his dad for a pint, things are looking bleak for Jimmy Sr. But when his friend Bimbo buys a chip van, things look up as the two partner up to figure out how exactly one makes a battered sausage in time for the World Cup and a lot of hungry spectators exiting the pubs aroud Barrytown.

There was lots in this to love - the pure Irishisms coming out of Jimmy and everyone around him or more accurately the Dublinisms, and there's a real sense of nostalgia when reading this book for a Dublin and a particular way of life that doesn't really exist anymore. For anyone who loved The Snapper or The Commitments, this is the third book in the Barrytown trilogy and follows members of the same family. Roddy Doyle has a good way of creating larger than life characters and placing them exactly where they ought to be and bringing them to life in many different ways.

The only issue I had with this, and it did spoil my reading a little bit, is the way in which Jimmy Sr and some of his friends (Bertie) often talked about women. Now I know this is just a product of when the book was written or published but that doesn't mean I have to be okay with grown men talking about 15/16 year olds looking like 'rides' or men actively looking to see if they would get the opportunity to cheat on their wives when on a night out. Not to mention how often the older women in the book, the wives and mothers, were compared unfavourably to women in their teens and 20s as if aging isn't hard enough as it is without being expected to look 21 forever. 

When Viv, a mercenary orc ready to retire, hangs up her sword and opens up a coffee shop in a town that's never heard of the hot beverage before, she's not sure if luck will run her way but soon finds herself meeting all the right people who will help her achieve her dream.

This is definitely the cutest, cosiest book that is perfect to fly through on one cosy evening with a hot chocolate (or a coffee), a crackling fire and a warm blanket. I liked Viv, her fierceness but also all the softness that was hiding inside for so long, desperate to come out and I really loved all the friendships in this book from Cal, Hemington and Thimble as well as a budding romance with Tandri. Thimble was definitely my favourite though and this book really made me crave a cinnamon roll. I also love that there was a recipe at the end of the book for one of Thimble's bakery creations which I will have to try.

I don't the writing in this book, or the story for that matter, is amazing. Everything about it is quite simple, and because it's very low stakes it does border on a bit predictable and almost boring but I don't think you go into this book expecting a lot of fantasy either. This is definitely a lovely book for people to dip their toe into the fantasy genre and see how they feel about a world with orcs, dwarves and a bit of magic - and world building that is often a bit too complicated to explain. 

Joe Goldberg is back again ands this time he's moved to the small coastal town of Bainbridge, and set his eyes on older librarian mom MK. The only problem is the people MK surrounds herself with, who Joe can see are just no good for her. But with the ghosts of his past catching up with him, Joe needs to be on his best behaviour which is hard to do when people keep dropping dead around him.

I really loved You, and also thoroughly enjoyed Hidden Bodies. However with the way Hidden Bodies ended, and You Love Me began I strongly feel like the series was originally meant to be a duology, and most likely the success of the TV show prompted another two books as I just felt so much was swept away way too easily about Joe's time in prison and how he got away with literal murder. It was a very quick 'The Quinn's had money and therefore good lawyers' but all the evidence was so stacked against him, I felt this was a little lazy.

The first half of this book was a 3-star for me mostly as I could feel myself getting a bit jaded with the way every You story goes - Joe sees girl, gets hooked on girl, stalks her, kills her friends etc and this one played along quite similarly as the first book without the surprise of the uniqueness of that book. I did however like the twist/change in play halfway through as we see Joe become not quite a victim but a lot more vulnerable as he's been before, and way less sure in himself.

I did still enjoy this, and listened to it on audiobook which is fun but I won't be rushing to book 4 (though will read and finish the series eventually).

 

Kirabo is a young girl growing up in a small Ugandan village with her grandparents when she starts first asking questions about the absence of her mother, as well as her own status as a good girl. As she gets to know the local village witch, Nsuuta, Kirabo learns what it means to have a wilder self inside of her and learns the history of Nsuuta and Kirabo's grandmother. As she grows older and moves away for school, Kirabo also comes into her own independence and beauty and must decide for herself where her future lies.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator did a beautiful job bringing the many Uganda folklore tales to life with her words, and in terms of a lyrical, lovely book to listen to, this was certainly the one. I will say I think it took me a while to understand where we were going at first because there was so much talk about Kirabo's 'second self' I couldn't help but wonder if this was going to go down some kind of magical realism route or stay strictly historical fiction.

I enjoyed the middle part of the book a lot as Kirabo grows a bit older and goes to the city to live with her father and his family, and onward to school where she is protected from the Uganda–Tanzania War that happens during this time.

The emphasis on what it means to be a woman in this book from a woman with sexual needs and looks that can bring men to her feet but also as a sister, daughter and friend is explored thoroughly and we see that Kirabo also has a slightly unusual upbringing in many ways as her father and grandfather are very proud to educate her fully and want her to succeed in a third-level education and career rather than becoming a homemaker. I loved Kirabo's relationship with her grandfather which was very sweet.

There were some elements to the story that felt a bit unfinished or not explored enough for me - Kirabo's feelings about her absentee mother is something that is very big at the start, disappears in the middle and comes back in a not so nice way at the end and the way this all worked out was kind of sad to read. I think there were strong themes in this book and I loved learning more about Ugandan culture, history and politics but there were parts of Kirabo's story that I just wanted more on - her friendships and school life more so than her relationship with a local boy for example.

I did like the author's way of writing though, and I think I will eventually read her other book which I think is a kind of companion novel to this one (or vice versa).