Month: May 2024

Kate’s Review: “When She Was Me”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “When She Was Me” by Marlee Bush

Publishing Info: Poisoned Pen Press, May 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: There’s only one way out of these woods…

Ever since that night, twin sisters Cassie and Lenora have been inseparable. As the sole permanent residents of Cabin Two, their refuge on an isolated Tennessee campground, they manage to stay away from prying eyes, probing questions, and true crime junkies. Just the two of them, Cassie and Lenora against the world. The peace and quiet is almost enough to make them forget what happened all those years ago. Almost.

Until a teenage girl camping at the neighboring cabin goes missing, and the memories come rushing back. As the crime becomes ever more recognizable—they know better than anyone that so-called ‘happy families’ can be anything but—each sister suspects the other knows more than she’s letting on….

Trapped in the isolating, claustrophobic wilderness, Cassie and Lenora must piece together the truth of what happened—and the sinister truth lurking in their own pasts—before it’s too late.

Review: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me an eARC of this novel via NetGalley!

What can I say, I love a good cabin the woods story, as I myself love a cabin in the woods. You know, assuming it’s not one of those pesky horror movie ones where everything goes terribly wrong. But I do love a book where there’s a cabin in the woods where everything goes horribly wrong, so of course I was interested in “When She Was Me” by Marlee Bush. The cover is clearly SCREAMING ‘I’m a cabin in the woods and things are about to go wrong!’ It also has twin sisters, a missing girl, some unreliable narrators, and promises of dark secrets. All of this is totally my jam!

To start, I really liked getting into the minds of twin sisters Cassie and Lenora, who have a shared traumatic past and a fierce devotion to one another. A devotion that is probably bordering on unhealthy. We jump between their two perspectives, learning about each other both from their own thoughts, but also sometimes from the other sister’s perception of the narrator at the time. I especially liked how this device made for. both better insight as well as a potential layer of unreliability. After all, Cassie may know more about Lenora than Lenora would like to admit (and vice versa), but there may also be misconceptions each has about the other due to their shared history and shared secrets. Sometimes when this kind of story of siblings, especially with twins, is taken on it can be have mixed results, but this was the strongest aspect of the book for me.

Now the mystery itself. It is definitely easy to read, and entertaining when the reader is in the thick of it. But I will say that it was pretty standard for a thriller, with all the boxes checked that you would expect to be checked (unreliable narrators, an isolated setting that makes for more difficult maneuvering, twist after twist after twist), without really doing too much outside of the box, or doing it in a way that is unique. There are misdirections that I could predict coming (though not to their full resolution or reveal, I will say), and I wasn’t invested in many of the characters outside of Cassie and Lenora, and even then that was more because of their dynamic and not because I was particularly attached to them as characters. It’s serviceable to be sure and I could see it being a perfect breezy beach read, and one that I enjoyed in the moment. But it didn’t really stand out from the litany of thrillers that came before it.

“When She Was Me” is entertaining and an enjoyable read. When I was in it I was in it. But it didn’t wow me as much as I had hoped it would.

Rating 6: It’s a pretty standard thriller, entertaining and addictive, but not really reinventing the wheel.

Reader’s Advisory:

“When She Was Me” is included in the Goodreads article “42 New Reader-Approved Mysteries for Spring”.

Highlights: May 2024

Flowers are blooming, allergies are settling in, and we’re all quietly dreading the return of the humidity of summer, even if we’re still happy about the sun and warm weather! But this is the perfect time to get out with a good book before the heat truly settles in, and here are few we’re looking forward to this month!

Serena’s Picks

Book: “When Among Crows” by Veronica Roth

Publication Date: May 14, 2024

Why I’m Interested: Veronica Roth is now a “must read” author for me, but even without that fact, I think I would have jumped at the chance to read her upcoming novella! It’s an urban fantasy story that pulls from Russian folklore and looks to promise much inner angst between its myriad of paranormal leading characters! I’m hopeful that this is one of those reading situations where my only complaint is that its a novella instead of a full-length book. Plus, the cover is just really fantastic!

Book: “Heavenbreaker” by Sara Wolf

Publication Date: May 21, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I’ve really loved the rise of “romantasy”(though I could perhaps write an entire series on popular subgenres and editing/quality decisions), but there are still few and far between romantic story that fall into the the larger science fiction genre! I read “Calamity” last year (and the sequel will likely show up on this list next month), but that’s about it. So I was very excited when I saw this book slated for release this May. The description for this one is a bit all over the place, but it sounds like a revenge plot that involves a should-be-dead young woman pairing up with a war machine to take on her enemies. And, of course, she may fall for one of those very same enemies. Crossing my fingers that this one is as good as it sounds!

Book: “The Fireborne Blade” by Charlotte Bond

Publication Date: May 28, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I mean, it’s probably no surprise that this one is on my list! Look at that cover! A dragon! A female main character with a sword! All right up my alley. This is another novella, so that seems to be a theme for me this month. The story follows a disgraced knight as she seeks to reclaim her honor by killing one of the legendary dragons of the realm. But to do so she must venture into its magic-infused lair and survive. This sounds like a classic fantasy in all of the best ways, and I’m super excited to check it out!

Kate’s Picks

Book: “Lore Olympus: Volume Six” by Rachel Smythe

Publication Date: May 7, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I’m still absolutely head over heels for this re-imagining of the Hades and Persephone love story, and Smythe has made such a creative, emotional, and at times quite funny adaptation that this is obviously going to be a high priority for me. When we last left off, Persephone had fled into hiding in the Underworld, just as Zeus has declared her and her mother Demeter as wanted by Olympus due to Persephone’s meltdown that ended with the death of many mortals, and which was covered up by Demeter to hide it from Zeus. Now Hades, desperate to find her, confronts Zeus, creating a rift between the brothers that could shake up the peace of the heavens and the Underworld. When Hades finds her, he wants to hear her side, in hopes of helping her, and Persephone has to decide if she is ready to open up, and tell her side of the story. I just love seeing where Smythe takes these characters and look forward to seeing where my favorite mythological love birds go next.

Book: “My Darling Dreadful Thing” by Johanna van Veen

Publication Date: May 14, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I’m already on board when a book has some themes about séances and spiritualism, but when it also has a vague possession element, and it’s one that MAY actually upend the trope, I’m even more excited! “My Darling Dreadful Thing” follows Roos, a young woman in 1950s Netherlands, whose abusive mother has forced her into phony séances because of her attachment to a spirit named Ruth, who is obsessed with Roos and can enter her body to act as anyone a client wants to be speaking to. And when a mysterious widow meets Roos at a séance and finds her intriguing enough to whisk her away to her Gothic mansion, Roos thinks that maybe she’s finally finding her freedom. But there are secrets in the mansion, and Roos’s new freedom may be a cage of another kind. This has been on my radar awhile and I am sure it will have lots to offer.

Book: “When She Was Me” by Marlee Bush

Publication Date: May 7, 2024

Why I’m Interested: Sisters with secrets? An isolated cabin? A missing girl? All of these things are very much up my alley, so “When She Was Me” by Marlee Bush was almost guaranteed to make my must read list. Twins Cassie and Lenora have isolated away from the world in a cabin off the beaten path, hoping that they will be left alone by nosy people and fans of salacious true crime tales. But when a teenager at a cabin nearby goes missing, and it sets off a frenzy, they start to worry that eyes will be back on them in no time, and that they will have to face some things that they did and were hoping they could just walk away from. It sounds vague and it sounds strange, so obviously it has my attention

What books are you most looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!

Serena’s Review: “Twelfth Knight”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Twelfth Knight” by Alexene Farol Follmuth

Publishing Info: Tor Teen, May 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Viola Reyes is annoyed.

Her painstakingly crafted tabletop game campaign was shot down, her best friend is suggesting she try being more “likable,” and school running back Jack Orsino is the most lackadaisical Student Body President she’s ever seen, which makes her job as VP that much harder. Vi’s favorite escape from the world is the MMORPG Twelfth Knight, but online spaces aren’t exactly kind to girls like her―girls who are extremely competent and have the swagger to prove it. So Vi creates a masculine alter ego, choosing to play as a knight named Cesario to create a safe haven for herself.

But when a football injury leads Jack Orsino to the world of Twelfth Knight, Vi is alarmed to discover their online alter egos―Cesario and Duke Orsino―are surprisingly well-matched.

As the long nights of game-play turn into discussions about life and love, Vi and Jack soon realise they’ve become more than just weapon-wielding characters in an online game. But Vi has been concealing her true identity from Jack, and Jack might just be falling for her offline…

Review: I knew this one would be a bit out of my wheelhouse when I requested it, but as I’ve seemed to move into also covering the romance genre to some extent on this blog, and the fact that I’ve loved this author’s fantasy work (she also writes under the name Olivie Blake), I thought it was worth a shot! Plus, this is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, so I was excited to see it re-imagined into a contemporary setting. Plus, plus, I really loved playing “Baldur’s Gate” which is essentially video-game DnD, so I was definitely interested in a story that focused on this type of gaming.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite land the way I wanted it to. But let’s start with some of the positives. And for me, that largely comes down to the male lead character, Jack. I thought it story was really well done, following the tragic but hopeful arc of a young man who was a rising football star before he suffered a debilitating injury. I thought the exploration of this topic was so well done: the upheavals of identity, the loss of purpose and floundering to find direction, the very real mourning for a life that will now not happen. It was all very touching and well done.

There were also elements of the romance I liked, especially the fact that it came across as believable and relatable. All too often, romcoms seem to get caught up in overly complicated “meet cutes” and then a “paint by numbers” style conflict/resolution in the third act. This one hits many of the expected notes, but I think one of this author’s strong suits has been her dialogue, and with this book, the very natural, realistic dialogue helped ground the love story in a way that I appreciated. That said, I was surprised to see the romance essentially take a back seat to some of the gaming stuff for the first half of the story. And, even for me, someone who enjoys gaming quite a bit, this was frustrating. Not only did I pick this one up first and foremost for the romance, not the gaming, but it also forced the actual love story to have to go through all of the stages in a rather short period of time in the second half of the book.

I also struggled to enjoy Viola. And this made for a complicated reading experience, because on one hand, her anger is justified and much of her arc is her learning how to lower her shields, even when she’s been hurt in the past. But on the other hand, even if some of her anger is earned, she was also incredibly unlikable for much of the first half of the story. And as much as my brain could understand this, especially the fact that she is a teenage character which makes all of these big emotions even harder to wrangle, the rest of me was so often annoyed at her that I struggled to enjoy her. I had to keep stopping and essentially explaining to myself why she behaved the way she did, but…having to give yourself a pep talk about enjoying a book doesn’t make for, well, enjoyment.

Overall, this was kind of a “meh” read for me. There were elements that I liked, but there were enough issues with the pacing of the love story and the likability of one of the lead characters that left me feeling rather cold on the story by the end. Fans of YA contemporary romance might still want to give this one a shot, however, as the author’s quippy dialogue is still as fun as ever! Plus, there’s a nice little barb launched at the “Game of Thrones” finale towards the end of the book. Always love to see it.

Rating 7: Just ok. I thought the book touched on some important themes, but the love story felt oddly paced and I struggled to like Viola as a character.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Twelfth” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2024

Kate’s Review: “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” by Nadine Sander-Green

Publishing Info: House of Anansi Press, April 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from Zg Stories.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A woman’s coming-of-age through a toxic relationship, isolation, and betrayal―set against the stark landscape of the far north.

Millicent is a shy, 24-year-old reporter who moves to Whitehorse to work for a failing daily newspaper. With winter looming and the Yukon descending into darkness, Millicent begins a relationship with Pascal, an eccentric and charming middle-aged filmmaker who lives on a converted school bus in a Walmart parking lot. What begins as a romantic adventure soon turns toxic, and Millicent finds herself struggling not to lose herself and her voice.

Events come to a head at Thaw di Gras, a celebration in faraway Dawson City marking the return of light to the north. It’s here, in a frontier mining town filled with drunken tourists, eclectic locals, and sparkling burlesque dancers, that Millicent must choose between staying with Pascal or finally standing up to her abuser.

In the style of Ottessa Moshfegh’s honest exploration of dysfunctional relationships, and with the warmth and energy of Heather O’Neill, Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit illuminates what it’s like to be young, impulsive, and in love in one of the harshest environments in the world.

Review: Thank you to Zg Stories for sending me an ARC of this novel!

While I am usually a person who loves predictability and not so much spontaneity, one of the areas where I DO tend to divert from the norms is my reading. And while that isn’t shown as much on the blog, I found myself compelled to dip my toes outside of my usual genres when the book “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” by Nadine Sander-Green came across my path. I was wholly taken with not only the setting of a small town in The Yukon (far up North small towns are very near and dear to my heart, even if my frame of reference is more Minnesota and Wisconsin versus Canada), and it sounded like an interesting character study of a woman trying to find herself, and unfortunately being targeted and manipulated by a toxic older man. So while it MAYBE had some thriller potential due to the latter bit of that, I felt that even if it was ultimately not a thriller, I still wanted to give it a go. And I’m happy I did, because “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” hit a nerve in a good way.

“Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” is a contemporary novel that follows Millicent, a twenty four year old woman who has uprooted her life to take a job at a small town newspaper in an isolated community in The Yukon called Whitehorse. Her only initial connection is her roommate Sophie, a friend from university whom she has drifted from, and her new job has left her with a serious case of imposter syndrome as she is at her heart a poet, not a journalist. The small town setting is both claustrophobic, but also striking and very grounded. I could imagine Whitehorse, I could almost see all the people, and the dark winter landscape as Millicent tries to adjust. I also got a full sense for the community as a whole and the very real issues that happen within the time and place, with references to relevant social issues in the Yukon in regards to politics and the First Nations people who are living there, and the ins and outs of a dying newspaper that Millicent works for. It’s a quieter novel, but I found it very engaging perhaps in part because of that. Millicent is a bit of a fish out of water, and her isolation, even from her supportive roommate and coworkers, makes it easy for her to be drawn to Pascal, a local eccentric who fancies himself and artist and is living a transient lifestyle in a bus like a mercurial bohemian. His eccentricity makes him stand out in this setting, which is so well drawn out by Sander-Greene that his appeal, at least on the surface, is wholly believable (and more on him in a bit).

Another thing I enjoyed about this book is how straight forward it is in terms of the plot and narrative. As we follow Millicent’s story, there are few bells and whistles, very little melodrama, no twists, and no big reveals to upend expectations of the plot. Instead we just have a very clear cut story about a young woman who is trying to find herself in a new environment that can feel quite isolating, and who becomes wrapped up with a manipulative and charismatic man in the hunt for connection. And this thread in the book was what stood out to me the most, this portrayal of a toxic relationship and how a smart young woman could find herself entangled within it. Pascal is absolutely a villain in this book, but his villainy is very well done in that it is very subtle and very easy to see why Millicent, who is yearning for connection and with an idealistic view of the world, could be sucked in by him. He’s charming, his life seems artistic, romantic, and interesting, and how many times have we heard of older men preferring the company of young women because of, at least in part, how much they can control them, and manipulating them to feel connected and genuine. Pascal is sinister as hell, but he never feels like an moustache twirling antagonist that is over the top with his malevolence, and if anything that makes him that much scarier.

“Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” was a gratifying shift from my usual genres, with a powerful new voice for contemporary and literary works. I will certainly be looking out for more works by Nadine Sander-Green in the future!

Rating 8: A compelling, quiet, and intense story about isolation, identity, and finding oneself in the face of abuse and hardship.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on the Goodreads list “The Yukon”.

Serena’s Review: “Ruthless Vows”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Screenshot

Book: “Ruthless Vows” by Rebecca Ross

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, December 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: own it!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign.

Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.

Previously Reviewed: “Divine Rivals”

Review: Sometimes I find it difficult striking a balance between keeping up with all of the new releases that I’m sure readers are looking for reviews for while also not slipping behind on books that are parts of a series and have sequels coming out during that same period of time. So, alas, here we are several months after the fact for a review for the second half of the wildly popular “Letters of Enchantment” duology. *les sigh*

I’ve been a big fan of Ross’s stories for a while now, so I have been incredibly pleased to see this duology so well received by many readers who are new to her work. That said, while I do like this book and its predecessor, I have to make a small plug for some of her earlier books, which I think are even stronger! But, of course, the focus of this review is this book. The last one ended on a huge cliffhanger, so I went into this one with a lot of pent up anxiety about where the story would go from here! The book picks up two weeks after the events of the previous book, with Iris back in the city and Roman behind enemy lines with his memories wiped.

I was a bit concerned about how this story would play out with our two main characters separated once again and with Roman’s lack of memories, but I was pleased with the way this was dealt with. The author doesn’t wipe the board completely clean, but instead neatly maneuvers the characters through a series of events that keeps the focus strong on their romance. While I still think the first book’s love story was the stronger of the two, I will always appreciate sequels that allow the love story to move further forward, instead of resetting it completely. Yes, we have to see these two rediscover each other to some extent, but we also get a fairly significant portion of the story that deals with them reconciled and moving through the next stages of their relationship.

I also really enjoyed the scenes we had from Roman’s perspective, the chance to see behind enemy lines and meet the big bad that was so often discussed in the first story. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of the soldiers who had been forcibly recruited, all struggling with memory loss and fighting for a cause they didn’t choose. In Iris’s chapter, we explored themes of loyalty, resistance, and the experiences of the civilians in a city under siege. Like the first book, these scenes of warfare were all incredibly powerful, presenting some of the many moral challenges faced by those in these situations.

I do think the book struggled a bit with how Dacre himself was dealt with. There were several points in the story where I struggled to understand some of his decision making. For such a powerful god, it didn’t make sense that he was relying on Roman and even Iris so much in the ways that he did. How these two weren’t outright murdered several times is frankly beyond me. But, believability aside, I still liked the overall themes of this book enough to not be too put off by that.

Overall, this was an excellent sequel to an excellent duology! Fans of the first book are sure to love it (who am I kidding though, all of the big fans have already read it by now!) and, with a conclusion as solid as this one, the entire duology is one I’d recommend to readers looking for a fresh take on a YA fantasy novel!

Rating 8: Love, war, and the impossible choices found therein, this duology is one of the best in YA fantasy out there!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Ruthless Vows” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Best YA Sequels and Romantasy.