Month: January 2025

Serena’s Review: “Carving Shadows into Gold”

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Book: “Carving Shadows into Gold”

Publishing Info: Bloomsbury YA, January 2025

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

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

Book Description: The King’s Courier Tycho has made a treacherous bargain. Now beholden to the magical scraver who saved King Gray’s life, one false move could end everything.

Jax escaped his life in Briarlock and traveled with Tycho to Emberfall. But life outside his small village brings unexpected challenges–and unlikely adversaries.

After years of hating the royal family and their magic, Callyn never expected to be at the Queen’s side, with magic on her fingertips. But at the royal court, she can’t trust anyone–including the man she thought she loved.

Cast apart, Tycho, Jax, and Callyn must learn to wield the magic that is dividing their kingdom. As the magical scravers attack from the north and the king’s rivals gain strength, time is running out.

War is looming. Love is tested. And magic could be the only answer. . .

Review: We’re back with another one of those strange cases where I end up reviewing a book in a series that I’ve read but not reviewed before on the blog. Like the other instances, this often happens when I receive a physical ARC of the book and want to give it the full treatment of a complete review rather than just an Instagram cover reveal or what have you. So, here we are, taking on the second book in the “Forging Silver Into Stars” series!

I won’t give a full review of the first book, obviously, but as a brief summary: I liked it for the most part! I’ve had a very hit-and-miss experience reading Kemmerer’s books. They always sound right up my alley, but then sometimes fail to deliver on the character front. The first book in this series did a lot of things right, especially with the introduction of a banger of a cast. That being the case, I was excited to jump into this second book and see where the story went from there!

Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite live up to the first one (I would have rated that one around 8). But let’s start with some of the good things. I was excited to return to this world and explore where the story went. And I did like some of the turns the story introduced. However, they were also few and far between. The first book had a fast, zippy feel to the pacing, allowing me to whip through it in only a few reading sessions. This one, while I could objectively point to things happening on the page, often felt much more bogged down, seeming to stall out at random points throughout, making the book all too easy to be set down.

As for the characters, in the first book I enjoyed them all fairly equally (a rare and praise-worthy thing, especially for a reader like me who often struggles with ensemble casts!). Here, however, I definitely found myself gravitating towards Callyn’s story. Oddly, this wasn’t necessarily because her character had any incredible growth or huge plot beats. Instead, of the characters, she was the only one who seemed to retain the level of competence and characterization that we saw in the first book. Tycho, in particular, felt like such a lesser version of the character we met in the first book. It was really odd! When before he had been incredibly compelling, here, he just seemed to…fade. Further, other characters became downright unlikable, like Grey.

As for the romance, it, too, felt greatly reduced from the first book. There were crumbs to be found if you really squinted, but if you’re going into this sequel looking for a lot of movement in this area, I think you’ll probably be disappointed.

Overall, this one feels like a classic example of second book syndrome. There simply wasn’t enough plot to flesh out the entire book. So instead, the characters are done dirty to simply get words on the page. This is definitely something I’ve seen before from Kemmerer (struggles with sustained characterization across a series). But she’s also really come through in the past, so I’ll likely still check out the next in the series. If you’re a fan of her books, you’ll probably want to read this one just to stay up-to-date with the series. But at this point, it’s definitely the weakest so far.

Rating 7: A bit too slow on every front and missing some of the spark from the first book. Or, perhaps, I’m simply growing out of Kemmerer’s style of YA.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Carving Shadows into Gold” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Silver and Gold and YA Novels of 2025.

Serena’s Review: “Immortal”

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

Book: “Immortal” Sue Lynn Tan

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, January 2025

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

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

Book Description: As the heir to Tianxia, Liyen knows she must ascend the throne and renew her kingdom’s pledge to serve the immortals who once protected them from a vicious enemy. But when she is poisoned, Liyen’s grandfather steals an enchanted lotus to save her life. Enraged at his betrayal, the immortal queen commands the powerful God of War to attack Tianxia.

Upon her grandfather’s death, Liyen ascends a precarious throne, vowing to end her kingdom’s obligation to the immortals. When she is summoned to the Immortal Realm, she seizes the opportunity to learn their secrets and to form a tenuous alliance to safeguard her people, all with the one she should fear and mistrust the most: the ruthless God of War. As they are drawn together, a treacherous attraction ignites between them—one she has to resist, to not endanger all she is fighting for.

But with darker forces closing in around them, and her kingdom plunged into peril, Liyen must risk everything to save her people from an unspeakable fate, even if it means forging a dangerous bond with the immortal… even if it means losing her heart.

Review: While I haven’t read “Daughter of the Moon Goddess” yet, it’s been on my TBR pile for a while due to the fairly universal acclaim it was met with. That being the case, I was excited to see a stand-alone book coming out by this author this winter that I could use as a dip into this world without committing to the original duology. This can be a bit of a hit or miss plan, however, as there are only a few authors I can name who seem to produce books at the same quality level every time. Others (the normal people, one might say) will often have stronger and weaker entries in their output.

You may have guessed, from this hedging right out of the gate that I didn’t love this one as much as I had hoped. But, per above hedging, I’m still hoping to give the original duology a shot, as the author has some clear strengths that maybe just didn’t come together for this particular book. So let’s start with those positives! For one thing, I think the writing was fairly strong throughout. There was a blessed refrain from modern lingo or overly “quippy” dialogue between characters. The world was described using lush language, so much so that I think it was these descriptive moments that were the true high points of the book. However, even here, as the story continued, I felt as if I was wanting more, with some of these world-building elements and larger plot points seeming to subside beneath the weak romance at the stories heart.

As readers of this blog know, I’m a character reader. You write a great character, and I’m willing to ignore numerous other potential flaws in a book. However, the inverse is also true, where it doesn’t matter how great your world is, how high the stakes of the plot may be…if your main characters don’t hit, I’m probably going to end up not enjoying the book. And that was the biggest problem here. The book starts with a scene that is clearly meant to establish much about Liyen’s character, giving the reader the starting point to become invested in her and her travails. However, I don’t think this event really hit as hard as it needed to (I had just met most of these characters and this world, so I didn’t really care too much about any of these players.) And then Liyen was written in such a way that even if this event had worked, it would have needed to be much more powerful to combat the sheer annoyance and frustration I felt reading from Liyen’s perspective. The best I can say is that this is a very familiar character: plucky heroine who learns she’s all powerful! And, given how often I run across this protagonist, I guess there are a decent number of readers for whom that may be enough. But readers who do enjoy this character type deserve more. More of an effort to create some original and less “paint by numbers.”

The love interest was the same. Yet again, we get a dark and brooding hero who (surprise!) turns out to be misunderstood and who harbors a heart of gold. Worse, he and Liyen seem to fall almost immediately in love (seriously, I think it was around the 1/3 mark of the book that their feelings began to really take hold). And, while the book wasn’t overly quippy, there were enough cheesy proclamations of devotion (especially the ones that came early) to have me rolling my eyes. I enjoy romance, so I can get behind speeches of passion. But I have to buy it! And I didn’t here. And then, as I continued reading, the author threw in a twist towards the end that seemingly retroactively explains their instant connection. But honestly, this was the insult that really broke the experience for me. All this twist told me was that the author understood how ridiculous the characters’ love story was and that she plopped in this explanation towards the end to somehow make the entire thing plausible. Which just feels lazy. Again, romantasy readers deserve better than this.

So, I know that this got rant-y towards the end. But I think part of the problem was how much potential I saw in the general quality of the prose writing and the interesting world-building. To have all of that going for the book, and to then people it with these generic lead characters whom we’ve all read before and who fall in love immediately for no good reason (other than an obviously contrived reason given towards the end), was very frustrating. All of this said, I do still plan on giving the original duology a chance. For one thing, the fact that it is a duology and not a stand-alone book gives me hope that the romance plays out in a more extended manner. Fans of the original duology might want to check this one out, and if you’re unbothered by instalove, then definitely give it a go! But if you’re looking for something that feels fresh or pushes the boundaries at all, this probably isn’t it.

Rating 7: An interesting world and some lush prose was undone by the same lead characters we’ve read a million times before in romantasy fiction.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Immortal” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Fantasy and 2025 Fantasy Novels.

Kate’s Review: “Tell Me What You Did”

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

Book: “Tell Me What You Did” by Carter Wilson

Publishing Info: Poisoned Pen Press, January 2025

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: She gets people to confess their crimes for a living. He knows she’s hiding a terrible secret. It’s time for the truth to come out…

Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they’ve committed to her audience. She can’t guarantee the police won’t come after her “guests,” but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame—a potent combination that’s proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind.

But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother’s murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother’s murderer is dead.

Poe killed him.

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Girl in 2A and The New Neighbor comes a chilling new thriller that forces the question: are murderers always the bad guys?

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

I am someone who really enjoys her true crime and weird tales podcasts, and I really enjoy seeing podcasts being incorporated into horror and thriller fiction. A podcast that I discovered last year was one called “Radio Rental”, where people write in their strange experiences and then record the stories themselves so that they are the ones to tell the story to the audience as opposed to a static host. I fell off it a little bit, but its really fun and I should probably go back and revisit it. I couldn’t help but think about that podcast when I read the premise for Carter Wilson’s “Tell Me What You Did”, but instead of real life scary or strange stories it was a story about a podcast that lets people anonymously confess crimes to the host Poe, who has some secrets of her own. But then an unhinged guest calling himself Ian calls in and claims that he killed her mother when Poe was a teenager. Which doesn’t make sense, because Poe is convinced that she already killed her mother’s killer. All of this sounded great, and Carter Wilson was a new name to me, so I thought why not take a chance on it? And I’m so happy I did, because “Tell Me What You Did” was loads of fun.

While it’s true that I was able to predict a few of the reveals in this book, that didn’t stop me from feeling the suspense as it built up in pacing and intensity. There were also a couple red herrings that did make me question my predictions, and a few things did catch me by surprise. I think that one of the biggest strengths of this was that it was an effective cat and mouse game as Poe realizes she is being stalked by a very dangerous lunatic, but also as we learn about her own past with stalking and cat and mouse shenanigans as she hunted down the man she believe brutally murdered her mother. I found myself tearing through in the last third of the book, really itching to see how it was all going to shake out, and man, were the twists and turns effective. To add some icing on this cake we also have some REALLY scary moments involving Ian and the lengths he will go to torment Poe. He’s the kind of villain that would translate SO WELL to a screen, and he was well realized in this.

But I also liked the ambiguity about Poe herself and her characterization. We know that she’s deeply traumatized due to witnessing her mother’s murder, and we slowly learn about how she herself committed a murder against who she thought was her mother’s killer. Her circumstances definitely make you sympathize, but we also have to ask some hard questions about revenge and vengeance and whether her actions against this person were justified. Especially when there is a sudden possibility that maybe the man she was so convinced was the murderer was actually an innocent man. I liked seeing Poe have to reckon with this possibility, and have to reflect on her certainty and perhaps need to come to terms with not REALLY being able to know. I feel like sometimes these ‘messy female protagonist’ tropes fall into obvious and well worn categories, but Poe’s horrific backstory AND her murderous past elevated this trope to new heights.

All in all, what a fun thriller! I’m happy that I took a chance on “Tell Me What You Did”, because it was very entertaining and a suspenseful read. If you have a winter getaway planned, consider bringing it along!

Rating 8: Twisty, turny, fast paced and at times genuinely scary, “Tell Me What You Did” is a fun and breakneck thriller.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Tell Me What You Did” is included on the Goodreads list “Most Anticipated Releases of 2025”.

Serena’s Review: “Water Moon”

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

Book: “Water Moon” by Samantha Otto Yambao

Publishing Info: Del Rey, January 2025

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

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

Book Description: On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see a cozy ramen restaurant. And only the chosen ones—those who are lost—will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.

Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop’s new owner to find it ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen, and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike its other customers, for he offers help instead of seeking it.

Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice—by way of rain puddles, rides on paper cranes, the bridge between midnight and morning, and a night market in the clouds.

But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own—and risk making a choice that she will never be able to take back.

Review: This is one of those cases where a simple concept, if interesting enough, is all it takes to hook readers in. And here, the idea of a pawnshop that deal’s in one’s regrets is just such a hook! I mean, c’mon, who wouldn’t want to read a book about that? Beyond the philosophical angles of regret and how that interacts with life’s ultimate path, there are some fairly basic points of interest. Namely, why does this pawnshop want to purchase regrets? And what do they do with these regrets after they have them?

I’ll say right from the start, while the book does engage with these topics in small ways, there was less of this than I had hoped for. Instead, the book was much more centered around the whimsical nature of this fantasy world that borders our own. Now, we all know that I enjoy whimsical, fairy-tale like fantasy, so, on the whole, I did like a lot of what we got in this area, as we followed the main characters as they travelled from one location to another. The comparisons to Studio Ghibli are well-earned. Be it tattoos that prescribe one’s fate or travelling through puddles, there were so many quirky, yet lovely, pieces of fantasy imagery.

At the same time, however, the book never seem to fully take hold of any of these concepts and really do anything with it. Bear with the analogy, but the book reminded me a bit of travelling through a cloudscape. The clouds were gorgeous to look at and every turn produced a new visually wonderous scene to behold. However, if you ever stop and try to touch one, or stand on one, or interact in any way, you’d find yourself left with a fistful of nothing. Similarly, whenever I stepped back from the sheer creativity of magical elements being described, I’d find myself wanting for more. The plot would begin to feel shaky, the world-building even more so. Yes, this world is made up of amazing ideas, but how do any of these things truly build a society or culture or have history? It just began to feel a bit thin, when one really tried to find a sense of place or a firm footing in the book.

Similarly, the characters were also endearing when I first met them. Hana’s life has been one of fated choices and a known result. Her life has been tattooed on her body for years and how she feels about becoming the next proprietor of the pawnshop is of little regard. This set up, the exploration of fate and choice, was rich with possibility. For his part, Keishin felt like a weaker character from the start. He simply accepts everything around him with an almost laughable ease and the insta-love came in hard from this side as well.

But even with Hana, the character I enjoyed more, as the story dove more into the action (if it can really be called “action” as it felt most of the time as if the story was simply leap-frogging from one whimsy set piece to another as quickly as possible in an attempt to squeeze in all of the author’s ideas), I felt more and more disconnected from the story. In a similar way to the plot and world-building, as the story progressed, I felt like, in reality, there was simply very little “there” there for these characters. They are introduced, and then, for the most part, they remain that way throughout the book, as they quickly fall in love based on…nothing much…almost instantly.

This book left me in a bit of quandary when trying to write this review and rate it. On one hand, in the beginning of the book, I really loved the concept, the world-building, and the characters we were following. I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I also really liked the non-traditional way the story played out, especially in the beginning, with many jumps between various side characters and time periods. However, as the story continued, I increasingly felt myself disconnected from the characters and plot. Things were ostensibly happening on the page, but I found myself becoming bored and inclined towards skimming. It was an odd sensation. I also think the characters were fairly one dimensional, a trait that wasn’t helped by the fast-developing love story. All of this said, if you enjoyed whimsical fantasy stories or Studio Ghibli in particular, this is still probably one to check out!

Rating 7: Solid writing and creative world-building carry a lot of weight, however the book flounders a bit on its weaker characters and plotting.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Water Moon” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Cozy Book Cafe Vibes and Books that inspired or are similar to Studio Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki films.

Kate’s Review: “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls”

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

Book: “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” by Grady Hendrix

Publishing Info: Berkley, January 2025

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

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

Book Description: They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

I am always so excited when Grady Hendrix has a new horror book coming out. I have enjoyed basically all of the books he has written and the way that he can create narratives with some humor, some heart, and some genuine horror moments. He always feels so genuine in his books, and I always feel like I’m on pins and needles waiting for a new one. And now it’s finally time for him to take on witches and witchcraft!!

I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. (Source)

Clearly my expectations were high, and I will say from the jump that they were a bit upended, but not in a bad way at all. This is perhaps Hendrix’s least obviously scary story, as the witchcraft is definitely present and it does have moments to shine. But at its heart “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” is less about actual witches and covens and spellcasting, and more about finding power within when powerless, and the injustices of violent misogyny towards vulnerable women.

First let’s talk about the witchcraft themes, as we all know how much I LOVE a witch story. And I mostly liked it in this one! I love the idea of a witch posing as a librarian in hopes of finding more women to empower and bring into a Coven, and I really liked the way that it shows Fern, Zinnia, Holly, and Rose find a crumb of power in their powerless situations as pregnant teenagers in an oppressive unwed mother’s home in Florida. The magical systems are interesting and the spells cast are engrossing and at times nasty, and I found the Coven led by librarian Miss Parcae to be equal parts compelling and in some ways sinister. Mostly due to Miss Parcae herself, who really felt like Agatha Harkness in the way she is grey as hell in her characterization. And of course there are themes of being careful what you wish for as four teenage girls who are desperate start to use magic they don’t really understand or comprehend. I do kind of wish that Hendrix had been a little more willing to lean more into the idea of the witchcraft even at its most destructive being a necessary wickedness in the face of the oppression and violence and harm that the teenage girls were suffering at Wellwood. I definitely understand making things less black and white and I always appreciate messy answers or difficult answers in stories, don’t get me wrong. But I think that the absolute horrors that these girls, many of them children, were enduring, as many were in real life during the times before Roe vs Wade was implemented, could have had some more vengeance thrown at them. Especially since in real life this kind of vengeance wasn’t doled out to those who deserved it nearly as much as it was in this book. And still isn’t being doled out at times.

And that brings me to the aspect of this book that I think worked the best for me, and that is the very realistic portrayal of the way unwed pregnant women and girls were treated by society during the time period, and the realistic portrayals of pregnancy and birth. And all of the horrors that come from those things. Fern, Rose, Zinnia, Holly, and all the girls at Wellwood home are dehumanized, insulted, shunned, and shamed by most of the people who work there, being implied to be whores, or stupid, or bad, with no actual reflection on their circumstances and the various steps it took to get them there (and for many of them they were victimized in various ways leading up to their pregnancies by other people, and very much so the men who impregnated them). The absolute rage I felt for all of these girls and the way they were treated was incendiary, and the horrific circumstances so many of them dealt with was just heartbreaking and horrifying. And with continued attacks on reproductive rights in this country with an uncertain future about how far that is going to go really just hits that point home in this book. On top of that we have two very different but very graphic depictions of childbirth in this book that felt very real, and didn’t hold back in the portrayals of both the clinical and unnecessary things that were done in a hospital birth, as well as the way things can go wrong in a home birth setting. If you have triggers associated with birth, and pregnancy loss, I would definitely say proceed with caution. I know some people think that birth scenes shouldn’t need trigger warnings because they are ‘natural’, but I don’t subscribe to that as it can be VERY traumatic, and this book doesn’t shy from that.

All in all, I really enjoyed “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls”. It has anger, it has magic, it has hope, and it has heart.

Rating 9: Filled with magic, friendship, and raging against sexism and misogyny that continues to seep far beyond the setting, “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” is a witchy and unrelenting story that reads like a refusal to go back to the past.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” is included on the Goodreads lists “Witches, Goddesses, or Nuns”, and “Witchy Books for Autumn”.

Book Club Review: “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”

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

We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again reading books that have had film/TV adaptations and then comparing the two mediums. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King

Publishing Info: Thorndike Press, 1982

Where Did I Get this Book: the library!

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

Book Description: Suspenseful, mysterious, and heart-wrenching, Stephen King’s extraordinary novella, populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, tells a powerful tale of crushing despair and liberating hope through the eyes of Ellis “Red” Redding. Red’s a guy who can get you whatever you want here in Maine’s corrupt and hard-edged Shawshank State Penitentiary (for a price, of course), but the one thing he doesn’t count on is an unexpected friendship forged with fellow inmate Andy Dufresne—an inscrutable one-time banker perhaps falsely convicted of brutal, calculated murder who will go on to transform everyone’s lives within these prison walls.

What We Watched: “The Shawshank Redemption” movie

Kate’s Thoughts

When we opted to revisit our “Adaptations” theme for our Book Club, I knew that it was finally time to subject my lady pals to some Stephen King. I didn’t want to throw them into the deep end of King’s horror landscape, as I am one of the few people who really loves straight up horror in the group, but I did want to showcase his writing style. So “Rita Hayworth and Shawkshank Redemption” made the most sense to me. One, the movie is a classic, one that I’ve seen many times as it’s one of my husband’s favorites (I really love it as well). And two, it’s a great taste of King is a small package that can be easily taken on even by those who don’t particularly like horror. It was my second time reading it, and I loved it just as much this time around. I think I loved it even more than my first read.

Oh how I love this story. It’s so simple, so straightforward and matter of fact. King has such a way with creating characters who just speak to the reader, and I really adore Red’s voice and the way that the story really brings to life Shawshank, the prisoners, the horrific circumstances and systems at play, and the importance of hope in the face of hopelessness and finding your community you can find solace within. What I really love about this book is that King creates an objectively thrilling story with high stakes and lots of potential for drama and tragedy, but it flows so well and is so compelling as we learn about Andy and Red and their friendship in a quiet and calm kind of way. Yes, there are moments of terribleness, where people are lost, where people die, where lives are basically over and suffering within the walls of this terrible prison and the sociopaths who run it. But there are also moments of humor, of light, of camaraderie and joy. King finds the complexities in Red and Andy (while Andy still remains a bit of a mystery, which just adds to the compelling aspects of this novella), and really makes it so as a reader you connect with them both and hope that they make it to Zihuatanejo and away from Shawshank Prison. I think that on my first read I considered myself more a fan of the movie while still loving both. But this time around the theme of hope, and the grittiness and ambiguity of hope, really resonated with me. I now think I like book and film the same.

“Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” is a fantastic story. A masterpiece from Stephen King.

Serena’s Thoughts

I’m probably the stereotypical reader of this book, in that I had watched the movie years ago but never got around to reading the actual novella until now. That said, I’ve really enjoyed all the Stephen King books I’ve read (I leave his true horror books to Kate and just skim along through the more thriller/fantasy stuff) so I had high hopes going in. And I wasn’t wrong! I absolutely loved this book!

For being such a short book, it’s impressive just how much is fit into this small number of pages. Not only do we have the actual prison break itself, but the story also thoroughly explores the horrors of the prison system, its inner workings and societies, and how, even over decades and decades, much of this remains unchanged. On top of that, the story follows two incredible characters. First, the narrator, Red. And then, through his eyes, we meet Andy. It obviously all comes down to Red’s voice, as had that not connected with readers, the entire book wouldn’t have worked. Through him, we get a window into the lives of these inmates. He’s both empathetic of the horrors, but also incredibly straight-forward and frank about the realities of simply going on in the face of it all. We also come to understand the biggest challenge of prison life: maintaining any sense of hope in a hopeless place.

What stood out for me between the book and the movie (though there were many things, and I can’t get to them all here) was the depiction of Andy. I think the character worked incredibly well in the movie, but after reading the book, I can also see how Andy was given the “Hollywood treatment.” The book version is actually even more compelling, giving us a glimpse of an incredibly smart, complex, and unique man. While the Andy of the movie had some of your typical “movie magic” hero moments, the Andy of the book shone more in his steadfast unknowability. Even Red, his best friend, admits to feeling as if he only ever scratched the surface of what’s going on in Andy’s head. And by the end of the book, the reader feels the same way.

This was an excellent book! If you’ve watched and enjoyed the movie, I definitely recommend giving this one a go! It’s a short read that you can finish up in one sit-down and is well worth the time its given.

Kate’s Rating 9 : Even better the second time around. This book is filled with heart, tragedy, and hope, and it really shines, showing off King’s skills as a writer across multiple genres.

Serena’s Rating 9: A whopper of a punch packed in such a small book, exploring the horrors of prison life and the perseverance of the human spirit.

Book Club Questions:

  1. What were your thoughts about the book being about Andy, but being from Red’s perspective? How do you think it would have been different had it been from Andy’s?
  2. We find out from the first pages that a lot of these characters (outside of Andy) are very much guilty of the crimes they committed. Did that affect the narrative and how you felt about them as characters?
  3. What did you think King was saying about atonement and imprisonment within the walls of Shawshank? About isolation and community? Grudging acceptance of abuse and resistance?
  4. Zihuatanejo is the end goal for Andy after he leaves Shawshankl and becomes a place that Andy and Red hope to meet up in someday. What do you think Zihuatanejo symbolizes for these two men?
  5. The movie and the book have some clear differences. What were some that really stood out to you? Did you find any preferable over the other?
  6. In the book our narrator Red is a white man of Irish descent, but in the film he is played by Morgan Freeman, a Black man. How do you think changing his race changes the context of the character of Red?
  7. In the movie it’s clear that Red made it to Zihuatanejo and was reunited with Andy, but in the book King opts to leave it open ended whether he makes it to the beach to see his friend. Why do you think King wanted to make it more ambiguous?

Reader’s Advisory

“Rita Hayworth and Shashank Redemption” can be found on these Goodreads lists: World’s Greatest Novellas and I Only Watched the Movie!

Next Book Club Pick: “Delicious in Dungeon” Vols. 1 & 2

Serena’s Review: “The Thirteenth Child”

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Book: “The Thirteenth Child” by Erin A. Craig

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, September 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: from the library!

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

Book Description: Hazel Trépas has always known she wasn’t like the rest of her siblings. A thirteenth child, promised away to one of the gods, she spends her childhood waiting for her godfather—Merrick, the Dreaded End—to arrive.

When he does, he lays out exactly how he’s planned Hazel’s future. She will become a great healer, known throughout the kingdom for her precision and skill. To aid her endeavors, Merrick blesses Hazel with a gift, the ability to instantly deduce the exact cure needed to treat the sick.

But all gifts come with a price. Hazel can see when Death has claimed a patient—when all hope is gone—and is tasked to end their suffering, permanently. Haunted by the ghosts of those she’s killed, Hazel longs to run. But destiny brings her to the royal court, where she meets Leo, a rakish prince with a disdain for everything and everyone. And it’s where Hazel faces her biggest dilemma yet—to save the life of a king marked to die. Hazel knows what she is meant to do and knows what her heart is urging her toward, but what will happen if she goes against the will of Death?

Review: It may be January of 2025, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still doing the handwork of December. That is, working my way through the back catalog of Fall 2024 titles that I didn’t get around to reading and reviewing in a timely manner! Even though I didn’t get to it until months later, I’d been looking forward to this one quite a lot. Not only did it sound like a great, unique fairytale fantasy story, but I’d heard a lot of good things about the author. So, without any more preamble, on to the review!

I love fairytale fantasies. And while I always enjoy fairytale re-tellings, there’s always something special about an original tale, especially if the author nails the sometimes indecipherable qualities that truly make a story feel like a fairytale. And that was definitely the case here! One thing that I always think of as distinct to fairytales is the blending of dark and light elements, and we had that in spades here. There’s the more straight-forward coming-of-age story for Hazel and a sweet slow burn romance towards the end, but on the other hand, this book verges on horror with some of its more grim elements.

And here, in particular, is where the story shines. Not only are some of these aspects truly creepy, but the book doesn’t shy away from grappling with some very tough moral questions. It’s essentially one long “trolley problem” of a plotline, with Hazel coming down on different sides of the equation at different points. Sometimes this inconsistency on her part could be frustrating, especially when she’s fully in the know with regards to the intricacies of these decisions. But at the same time, no amount of understanding would take the horror out of being the one to make these choices.

Another hallmark of fairytales is that the lead character often has a truly awful home life, and such is the case with Hazel. This story unfolds in a unique way, following Hazel through her life from a small child up through adulthood, with each time period being given fairly significant chunks of the book. That being the case, we get a decent amount of time with child Hazel during which we see how she grows to be the young woman and adult she becomes. There are various familial roles explored, from the neglect and abuse from her parents, to the closest brother she has who is taken away only to be a stranger when she meets him again later, to the complex relationship she has with the god of Death who is her godfather. This last one was particularly well done, as it could have easily fallen into a few trope holes. Instead, we get a relationship that is as conflicted and challenging as families can be, mixing both love, frustration, disappointment, and even rage altogether. Through this lens, the book explores the expectations of parents, and the ways in which love can turn into a burden.

I also enjoyed the romance, but this definitely didn’t come into play until the last half of the story. Given the time jumps, it avoids instalove, but just barely. It’s by no means the focal point of the story, but what we do get is sweet and I enjoyed the way the story swerved at key moments to avoid becoming mired in some of the current romantasy tropes.

Towards the end of the book, some of the reveals and plot turns were a bit predictable, perhaps, which is the only thing holding this back from a 10 for me! And the reader’s tolerance for some of Hazel’s continual struggles in the face of a decision that she already knows the consequences of will also vary. However, for me, I thought this was an excellent original fairytale, and now I can’t wait to go back and read the author’s other books!

Rating 9: A wholly original fairytale fantasy, chock full of all of my favorite things!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Thirteenth Child” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Gothic Fairytale Fantasy and Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2024.

Serena’s Review: “Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue”

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Book: “Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue” by Kate Pearsall

Publishing Info: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, January 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: As Caball Hollow slowly recovers after a tumultuous summer, the James family must also come to terms with their own newly revealed secrets.        18-year-old Rowan James has spent her whole life harboring unpleasant truths—that’s what happens when you can smell people’s lies—and building walls around herself to block them out. Like her younger sister, Linden, who can taste the feelings of others, Rowan has long resented her gift, which has taught her that everyone lies and no one is who they seem to be. So when her old nemesis, Hadrian Fitch, the biggest liar of them all, shows up on her front porch—bloodied, broken, and asking for help only she can give—her first instinct is distrust. But something new is stalking the Forest that surrounds Caball Hollow.       Now things are disappearing. At first, it’s small stuff—like letters, photos, and keys. But then, Rowan notices people around her are losing their memories. And when the body of a neighbor is found in the middle of town, Rowan knows there’s a link between this death and all the events disturbing the Hollow. Can she find what—or who—the link is before it takes another life?

Previously Reviewed: “Bittersweet in the Hollow”

Review: While “Bittersweet in the Hollow” wasn’t a perfect read for me, it got a lot of things right, particularly with regards to the atmosphere of mystery and creepiness that surrounds Caball Hollow. I also always enjoy stories about a bunch of sister with magical powers, so there’s that. Rowan didn’t play a huge role in that story, but I was definitely intrigued by her character and excited to see where her story would go in this sequel!

So, to get it out of the way, this one probably came in at around or a bit below the same level as “Bittersweet:” in that, I definitely see parts that I appreciate, but it also failed to capitalize on its strengths in a way that would have elevated it to a higher level for me. But let’s start with the good, as always. Like “Bittersweet,” one of the biggest strengths of this book is its overall tone and the vibe of this small town and the dark woods that surrounds it. It worked out in a strange way that I was reading two books back-to-back with this general setting (Adrienne Young’s “A Sea of Unspoken Things” was the other), and I found that I appreciated the use of this setting just as much here as I did there.

Beyond the mysteriousness of the woods and the dangers it contains, I also liked the exploration of small-town life. Particularly, the challenge of living in a town with such a limited population where you know everyone, for better or worse. Forgive and forget becomes a necessity to functioning in an environment like this, sometimes for very practical, economic reasons, as we see here with the family’s café that depends on the town folk for business even if some of them have behaved in truly terrible ways.

However, as I read, I found myself really struggling with the pacing and some of the plotting of this book. It’s just a very slow read, taking a long time to really get started, with what feels like numerous “false starts” to the plot. Further, as I continued to read, I was dismayed to see so much time spent on events and characters from the first book. In some ways, Lindon was allowed to overshadow Rowan in Rowan’s own book, which is always disappointing. I’m not sure whether the author simply didn’t have a robust enough storyline for Rowan herself or what. But I do think this book may have been more successful as a novella or shorter companion piece. As it stands, it feels as if Rowan was short-shifted as a main character.

In a similar way, the romance was very lackluster. It wasn’t bad, and I did enjoy moments with the romantic lead. But at the same time, I failed to really feel any chemistry between these two characters. I felt as if I was being told they were developing feelings for one another, but I wasn’t getting any of that on the page. For a character like Rowan with her particular ability with lying, there should have been plenty of material to build a complex romantic relationship, so it was disappointing to see the book flounder in this way.

Overall, this was an ok read. If you enjoyed the first book and Lindon as a character, this one is probably worth reading simply for the large emphasis on the events of that book and that character. If you were hoping for a truly fresh-feeling story and a clear development of Rowan as her own character, however, you may find yourself as disappointed as I was.

Rating 7: The story shines with regards to its atmosphere and mysterious vibes, however, weaker characters brought it down a bit in the end.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2025.

Kate’s Review: “Missing Mom”

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Book: “Missing Mom” by Lynn Slaughter

Publishing Info: Fire and Ice Young Adult Books, January 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publicist.

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon

Book Description: Devastated by her mom’s sudden disappearance and the evidence pointing to suicide, seventeen-year-old Noelle, an aspiring ballet dancer, doesn’t believe her mom would ever have taken her own life. She undertakes her own investigation to find out what really happened to her mother.

Meanwhile, Noelle is dealing with growing romantic feelings for Ravi, her best friend and fellow dancer. And she’s worried about her little sister, Whitney, who won’t talk about why she doesn’t want to visit their dad.

Threaded throughout the novel is also the story of Savannah, a young woman whose escape from an abusive marriage nearly two decades earlier turns out to be connected to Noelle’s investigation.

Review: Thank you to Books Forward for sending me an ARC of this novel!

We all know that I’m a huge sucker for stories about missing people, especially when their loved ones take on the mantle of figuring out what happened. So it’s probably not super shocking that when Lynn Slaughter’s new YA mystery “Missing Mom” ended up in my inbox, I was pretty on board to give it a whirl. I’ve enjoyed Slaughter’s mysteries in the past, and when you take a trope I love and offer it up to me I’m almost always going to be game.

Our main narrative is that of Noelle, a teenager whose mother has disappeared unexpectedly, leaving Noelle with her younger sister Whitney and her stepfather Carl reeling and worried. To make matters worse, Noelle has other stresses in her life, like her strained relationship with her father (who Whitney is unwilling to be around), and her growing romantic feelings for best friend/dance partner Ravi. Noelle’s storyline was a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, I did enjoy seeing her try and do her own investigating about her missing mother when the authorities seem to be dropping the ball, as that kind of mystery is always tantalizing to me. On the other hand, I thought that sometimes her voice didn’t feel as authentic and read abrupt or immature. I also thought that her nerves about Ravi and their relationship and the conflicts there felt a bit out of place given all the other traumatic things that were coming out in her life, not only with her mother, but revelations about Whitney (side note/spoiler alert: content warnings are definitely needed in this book for pedophilia and CSAM, so be warned in that regard). But the mystery at hand, especially the one I’m about to talk about, mostly made up for it.

I think that the stronger narrative in this book was that of Savannah, the woman whose story we are following from almost two decades prior as Noelle is trying to find out what happened to her mother. Savannah is a young wife who is starting to realize that her marriage to her new husband Mack is an abusive one. I thought that these chapters were incredibly suspenseful as we see her find herself as a frog in a pot of slowly boiling water, and thought that these were pretty straight forward portrayals of escalating abuse. And while it was a bit simplistic in presentation like the Noelle parts, I was still really hoping that Savannah would find her way out (and honestly I knew she would, but still, I was very eager to see her journey to freedom from Mack and his violence).

So while I think that some of the characters of this book were a bit stilted, I was interested enough in the mystery to find out how it all came together at the end.

Rating 7: A suspenseful mystery with some compelling flashbacks makes for an entertaining read!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Missing Mom” isn’t on any Goodreads lists but it would fit in on “Missing People Books”.

Serena’s Review: “A Sea of Unspoken Things”

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Book: “A Sea of Unspoken Things” by Adrienne Young

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, January 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: The only thing James and Johnny Golden have ever had is each other. For as long as she can remember, James’s deep connection with her twin brother, Johnny, has gone beyond intuition—she can feel what he feels. So, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life. 

When James arrives in the rural town of Hawthorne, California to settle her brother’s affairs, she’s forced to rehash the ominous past she and Johnny shared and finally face Micah, the only person who knows about it. He’s also the only man she’s ever loved. 

But James soon discovers that the strange connection she had with Johnny isn’t quite gone, and the more she immerses herself into his world, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew. Johnny was keeping secrets, and he’s not the only one. What she uncovers will push her to unravel what happened in the days before Johnny’s death, but in the end, she’ll have to decide which truths should come to light, and which should stay buried forever.

Review: Adrienne Young has been reliably a “one book a year” author for a while now, and I feel like I’m getting quite spoiled. I look ahead to the fall and the winter and mentally assume that I’ll be getting to enjoy her most recent release somewhere in there! It also helps that I’ve been enjoying this turn towards adult novels with a closer feel towards magical realism than straight fantasy. So, like clockwork, I’m back with another review for her latest entry!

While this one didn’t quite hit as hard as some of her other books, there was still a lot to like about this one! First of all, I think the cover on this book, while beautiful, is a missed opportunity. So much of the book is taken up with the oppressive, claustrophobic, wild nature of the forest that surrounds the small town of Hawthorne, that a cover picture of a wide open seascape seems very misplaced. Especially since this unique atmosphere and nature of the woods is so omnipresent throughout the book. While reading it, you can almost feel the trees pressing in.

I grew up in the mountains and the woods, so I love forests. But Young also deftly captured the unique experience of feeling closed in, even while outside, that can come from thick woodlands. Here, she cashes in on the tension that comes from reduced sight lines, not being able to see the shifts in the landscape or what they can hide. This sense of the unknown is then woven through the various mysteries of not only Johnny’s death, but also James’ past that drove her to flee her hometown many years ago.

I also enjoyed the complicated nature of the sibling relationship between Johnny and James. We never see Johnny alive on page except for flashbacks, but again, Young masterfully captures the lingering feeling of presence after someone as close as a sibling passes away. Of course, this is fantasy realism, so this ghost-like presence is explored in more mystical senses as well. But even small things, like coming into a place that was suddenly abandoned by an unexpected death and then trying to piece together that person’s last days or moments…it was all quite well done. Even more so due to the complicated relationship between Johnny and James, one that was both as close as it could be, but also full of tension and whips of darkness. The flashbacks were incredibly effective at building up James’ feelings towards this mercurial brother and the ways in which he directed so many of her life choices.

On the other hand, while the romance was sweet, this was the relationship that felt a bit short-shifted. In many ways, it felt very similar to the romance we saw in another of Young’s books, “Spells for Forgetting,” focusing again on small towns and second-chance romances. Instead, I found the dynamic between Johnny, James, and Micah together as a trio to be of more interest. Micah wasn’t really given enough on the page to fully flesh him out as a character. Instead, he felt more like a sounding board character for Johnny and James. Not saying I’d rather there have not been a romance, as I did enjoy the love story. Just that if you’re going in looking for romance, then you might be a bit underwhelmed.

The mystery was also fairly good. There were a number of reveals and connections that I thought were done quite well, red herrings that would go back and forth between being red herrings at all. On the other hand, at least one of these reveals felt like it came a bit out of nowhere and didn’t have much to truly back it up. A person did a thing because of…reasons. Ultimately, as I was mostly invested in the mysteries surrounding the past and on the dynamics between the Micah, Johnny, and James, I was mostly ok with this. But it did feel a bit weaker than some of Young’s past entries in this regards.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book! It didn’t quite live up to some of the highs of past books by Young, but it was also a solidly enjoyable mystery/romance/fantasy realism book on its own! If you’ve enjoyed her books in the past, odds are good that you’ll like this one as well!

Rating 8: The true triumph is Young’s ability to capture the beautiful yet oppressive nature of a deep, dark woods.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Sea of Unspoken Things” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Book titles with all the vowels in it. A E I O U