Tag: 8 Rating

Book Club Review: “The Bletchley Riddle”

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Book: “The Bletchley Riddle” by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin

Publishing Info: Viking Books for Young Readers, October 2024

Where Did We Get This Book: The Library!

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

Book Description: Remember, you are bound by the Official Secrets Act…

Summer, 1940. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie share a love of riddles and puzzles. And now they’re living inside of one. The quarrelsome siblings find themselves amidst one of the greatest secrets of World War II—Britain’s eccentric codebreaking factory at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins Bletchley’s top minds to crack the Nazi’s Enigma cipher, fourteen-year-old Lizzie embarks on a mission to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother.

The Battle of Britain rages and Hitler’s invasion creeps closer. And at the same time, baffling messages and codes arrive on their doorstep while a menacing inspector lurks outside the gates of the Bletchley mansion. Are the messages truly for them, or are they a trap? Could the riddles of Enigma and their mother’s disappearance be somehow connected? Jakob and Lizzie must find a way to work together as they race to decipher clues which unravel a shocking puzzle that presents the ultimate challenge: How long must a secret be kept?

Serena’s Thoughts

Other than the fact that this is a middle grade novel (I don’t tend to love reading this genre as an adult, which honestly makes me a bit sad!), this book was right up my alley! I enjoy both historical fiction as well as mysteries, and both are done so well in this story. I was also a big fan of the code-breaking and puzzle aspects. I enjoyed trying to put things together myself, but also was happy to simply follow along with the characters as they pieced it all together and then explained it to me later.

I have a long record on this blog of complaining about poorly executed alternating POVs, but this was a good example of how to do this right. One of my biggest complaints is that authors often have a hard time writing multiple characters in ways that make them feel distinct. This story was well suited for this, however, focusing on a pair of siblings, an older teenage brother and his younger middle grade sister. Between the age and gender differences, they both felt very distinct. It was also great following their different experiences with Bletchley Park and the roles they took on there.

I also thought many of the side characters were very good, and I appreciated the way the authors managed to weave in real-world historical figures throughout the text. It would have been nearly impossible to not include these figures, but there’s always the danger, when writing fiction, that any real-life characters won’t blend well with their fictional counterparts. Not the case here! I think both authors well understood the truth in the saying “a little goes a long way” in this area.

Overall, this was a great middle grade read! Not being a middle grade reader myself, I may not have enjoyed it as much as the target audience, but this would be an easy book to recommend to large swaths of younger readers!

Kate’s Thoughts

I too am not much of a middle grade reader unless the topic is VERY interesting to me, but I have loved basically every book I’ve read by Ruth Sepetys so I had pretty high hopes for this one. Middle grade or not. And I also find books about World War II’s ally home fronts interesting in general, especially for places like Britain that were dealing with the constant fear of invasion. And finally, I had some vague knowledge about Bletchley Park thanks to stories about Alan Turing, as well as the miniseries “The Bletchley Circle”. All of that combined to make this a potentially good match for me, and overall it was.

Now I’m not super good at codes and puzzles, but I really enjoyed the way that the authors not only explained the importance of Bletchley Park and the goals that it had, it also gives really accessible examples of codes and ciphers to contextualize what kind of work they were doing (and how daunting the Enigma Machine was even for the most skilled of code breakers). Similarly to how she writes historical fiction books for teens, Supetys really has a skill for bringing out the most interesting and sometimes complex topics and parsing out that information for her audience, this one being middle grade. I also liked how she not only touched on the British code breakers through Jakob’s work (and the important work of messengers like Lizzie, who could be young teens!), but also the code work that more in the thick of it countries were doing, like Poland.

I also generally enjoyed the sibling relationship between Jakob and Lizzie, who butt heads sometimes but always have each other’s backs even in the most stressful of times. We have not only the stress of being at Bletchley, the stress of being in a place that could be bombed at any time, AND the question of where their espionage adjacent mother is, who disappeared in Poland and who Lizzie is convinced in still alive (while British intelligence is convinced she is a traitor). Watching them not only try to figure out how they can help in any way they can at Bletchley but ALSO try and hold on without knowing where their mother is was at times emotional, and both Sepetys and Sheinkin bring their talents together to create an informative and gripping family story.

I found “The Bletchley Riddle” to be a well done World War II read that history buffs of ANY age may like!

Serena’s Rating 8: A great balance of historical facts and exciting adventure, perfect for any middle grade or young adult readers who are interested in learning more about the lesser-known parts of WWII.

Kate’s Rating 8: An accessible and entertaining historical fiction for kids about code breaking, World War II, and siblings fighting against Nazis and surviving a war in more ways than one.

Book Club Questions

  1. How familiar were you with the history of Bletchley Park before reading this book?
  2. Did the setting of World War II London ring true for you?
  3. We follow the Novis siblings, Lizzie and Jacob, with their voices alternating between chapters. Did you find these two characters voices different enough as you read the book? Did you like one perspective more than another?
  4. What did you think about the friendships in this book?
  5. How did you like the inclusion of real life figures like Alan Turing? Did it feel like it fit, or did it feel distracting?
  6. What were your thoughts on the mystery Willa Novis and her disappearance? What about the code mysteries?

Reader’s Advisory

“The Bletchley Riddle” is included on the Goodreads lists “World War Two England”, and “Books Set in Bletchley Park”.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Hacienda” by Isabel Cañas

Serena’s Review: “A Curious Kind of Magic”

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Book: “A Curious Kind of Magic” by Mara Rutherford

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, October 2025

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

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

Book Description: Everyone in Ardmuir knows that Willow Stokes is a charlatan, including Willow herself. Her father’s shoppe hasn’t sold anything magical in decades, and it’s only hanging on by the skin of the fake dragon’s teeth Willow sells as charms, along with “enchanted” ostrich eggs, taxidermied chimeras, and talismans made of fools’ gold.

Until outlander Brianna Hargrave appears and turns Willow’s fakes into exactly what they’re purported to be. But try as Willow might to enlist Bri’s help, she wants nothing to do with Willow and her curiosities.

Because Brianna is harboring a secret of her own: everything she touches turns to magic, and the consequences have chased her all the way to Ardmuir. All she wants to do is find a particular missing grimoire, which contains a spell that can finally put an end to her curse.

Desperate to keep her father’s shoppe, Willow proposes a bargain that could save them both. Together with the frustratingly handsome printer’s assistant, the girls will uncover a plot that goes far deeper than either could have imagined. But when Willow is forced to participate in an ambitious collector’s quest for the rarest magical object in the world-a quest that risks almost-certain death-she learns that not all treasure is for sale, and that true magic is closer than she ever could have imagined.

Review: This is one of those books where I closed the page and my only thought was, “Well, what’s next?” Everything about this one was almost aggressively just okay. Nothing was bad enough that I wanted to get out my laptop right away and start a rant. But nothing was good enough either that I wanted to think much more about the entire experience.

Part of this comes down to the fact that nothing really stands out in this book. It’s set in some nondescript “historical” time period and setting. The magical elements are just your typical fairytale sort of thing where certain people have access to magic and others don’t. And the characters are all fairly familiar archetypes, from the prickly leading lady to the cinnamon roll romantic interest.

None of this is particularly helped by the slow pacing of the story. I’ve struggled with this aspect of Mara Rutherford’s writing in the past, and it was the same situation here. These YA books aren’t particularly long, but given the actual plot and content of the book, like her others, this one felt as if it could be 50 pages shorter at least. Some of this can be explained away by the cozy subgenre, a particular subset of genres that often rely on slower pacing and day-in-the-life motifs. But even within this category, I think this one felt particularly uneven in its pacing and plotting. However, cozy fantasy is often a struggle for me, so bigger fans of the genre may be less bothered by this aspect of the book.

I also struggled with the characters. The main character is written to be prickly and standoffish, but more often than not, this translated into me simply disliking her much of the time. Much of the spare 50–75 pages worth of content in this book is taken up by Willow’s poor decision-making and insistence on keeping everything and everyone at arm’s length. Bri, perhaps, was a bit better, but again, I never felt like I had enough to really grasp onto her as a unique and interesting character. And Finlay, for his part, was a sweet character, but too often this sweetness took a turn towards bland and left me feeling distinctly underwhelmed.

Perhaps “underwhelmed” is the best description for my feelings for this book. I’ve enjoyed Mara Rutherford’s books in the past, but I think that some of her particular writing foibles (slower and sometimes uneven pacing) were not benefitted by the cozy subgenre. Her previous books had darker themes and elements which I think elevated some of the weaker portions (characterization and pacing). Whereas here, with less plot to speak of, these flaws rose more to the forefront. However, I will say that this may appeal more to general fans of YA cozy fantasy, so if you’re a fan of that subgenre or a big Rutherford fan, this one may still be worth checking out!

Rating 7: Just okay. There was nothing bad about this read, but nothing will really stick with me either, unfortunately.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Curious Kind of Magic” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Cozy Fantasy and Cozy and Cold Weather Reads (YA and Children’s).

Kate’s Review: “The Bone Thief”

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Book: “The Bone Thief” by Vanessa Lillie

Publishing Info: Berkley, October 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: When a Native teenager vanishes from her small town—a place with dark ties to an elite historical society—archaeologist Syd Walker is called to investigate…from bestselling author Vanessa Lillie.

In the hours before dawn at a local summer camp, Bureau of Indian Affairs archaeologist Syd Walker receives an alarming call: newly discovered skeletal remains have been stolen. Not only have bones gone missing, but a Native teen girl has disappeared near the camp, and law enforcement dismisses her family’s fears.

As Syd investigates both crimes, she’s drawn into a world of privileged campers and their wealthy parents—most of them members of the Founders Society, an exclusive club whose members trace their lineage to the first colonists and claim ancestral rights to the land, despite fierce objections from the local tribal community. And it’s not the first time something—or someone—has gone missing from the camp.

The deeper Syd digs, the more she realizes these aren’t isolated incidents. A pattern of disappearances stretches back generations, all leading to the Founders Society’s doorstep. But exposing the truth means confronting not just the town’s most powerful families, but also a legacy of violence that refuses to stay buried.

From the national bestselling author of Blood Sisters (a Washington Post Best Mystery of the Year and Target Book Club pick) comes a new Syd Walker novel that proves the sins of the past are destined to repeat until the truth is finally unearthed.

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

I really enjoyed Vanessa Lillie’s first Syd Walker Mystery “Blood Sisters” when I read it awhile back, having stumbled upon it and taking a chance on it only to be really happy with it. Because of this it’s definitely not shocking that when I saw that Lillie had a new Syd Walker mystery coming out, “The Bone Thief”, I had to request it post haste. I am always hoping to find a new mystery series to follow, and sometimes one good read can be a fluke. I hoped it wasn’t the case for Lillie’s Syd, and boy was I happy to see that Syd is still going strong and bringing compelling and searingly relevant mysteries!

We have two mysteries at work here. The first is the case of some remains of an Indigenous woman and her baby that Syd is involved with as a BIA archaeologist, and how the local historical group The Founders Society wants to have them for clout while the local tribes want to bring them back to the community… only for the remains to disappear. Along with that, a Native teenager named Naomi has gone missing, harkening back to Syd’s previous mystery where she went searching for her missing sister, and also found her childhood friend Luna and Luna’s daughter Gracie on her search (Luna and Gracie have since moved in with Syd and her very pregnant wife Mal, which is causing some friction). I enjoyed both of the mysteries, as I felt that Lillie did a good job of keeping the focus even upon both while also slowly intertwining them, with connections between missing teen Naomi and the Founder’s Society, as well as other mysteries connected to the group over the years. Syd is still a very enjoyable detective, trying to remain true and honest to her own Indigenous heritage while also working for the BIA in a way that she feels can be positive. I felt like there were solid reveals, well done misdirections, and a well placed smattering of clues that all came together for some satisfying conclusions.

But, like so many other books that have such themes, it was the social commentary about the way that Indigenous people in this country are being erased, ignored, oppressed, and victimized, whether it’s during this time period in a pre-Obama United States, or in the many years since the invasion of this country by European colonizers. In this book Syd has found herself not only investigating another missing Indigenous woman case, she is also dealing with the theft and exploitation of Indigenous remains, when the skeletons of an Indigenous woman and her baby are found and the local historical organization The Founders Society wants claim to the bones. Syd has to walk a tenuous line as a BIA archaeologist, as she believes in the education of the masses to the history of Indigenous peoples and how history should, indeed, be accessible to anyone… But she also is fully aware that a predominantly white historical society mainly made up of descendants of colonizers keeping not only artifacts but also remains of Indigenous people is deeply, DEEPLY problematic and unethical. Lillie raises a lot of good questions about not only the way that living Indigenous people are still being wronged in the modern world, but how the long dead continue to be victimized through their remains being disrespected and withheld from tribes in the name of white history. It’s important to keep talking about it, and I appreciated the way that Lillie blended it all together along with the mystery.

“The Bone Thief” is another enjoyable Syd Walker mystery from Vanessa Lillie! I really hope this series continues, it really clicks with me.

Rating 8: Another solid mystery with all too relevant social commentary about the Indigenous experience, “The Bone Thief” is a gripping thriller with a very likable protagonist.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Bone Thief” is included on the Goodreads list “Indigenous Books 2025”.

Kate’s Review: “The Creeping”

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Book: “The Creeping” by Alexandra Sirowy

Publishing Info: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, August 2015

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC of the re-release from the publicist

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

Book Description: Eleven years ago, Stella and Jeanie disappeared. Only Stella came back.

Now all she wants is a summer full of cove days, friends, and her gorgeous crush – until a fresh corpse leads Stella down a path of ancient evil and secrets.

Stella believes remembering what happened to Jeanie will save her. It won’t.

She used to know better than to believe in what slinks through the shadows. Not anymore.

Review: Thank you to Wunderkind PR for sending me an ARC of this novel!

So I ran into an interesting situation when I started reading “The Creeping” by Alexandra Sirowy. As started reading, I started feeling like it was a bit familiar. Something in my mind was niggling at me. Savage, Minnesota? A girl who experienced something traumatizing and has no memory of that day? A mean best friend and a longing boy who used to be a friend?

Something feels familiar… (source)

I hadn’t gone to my Goodreads to update my reading status at this point, and so I went to my account and looked up “The Creeping”…. and realized that I read it when it originally came out ten years ago!! I had known it was a re-release, but clearly ten years meant that the title hadn’t rang any bells at first. I didn’t go back and read my thoughts as I wanted to go in without any influence on my thoughts. And I enjoyed it again, and found it to be fascinating to see how my views shifted in ten years.

As a small town with secrets and folklore perhaps treading towards a supernatural horror, “The Creeping” checks off a lot of boxes that I generally enjoy in the tropes that come with such tales. Savage, Minnesota (not too far from where we live, albeit a fictional version of this town!) has been haunted by the disappearance of a little girl named Jeanie, who disappeared in the woods with her best friend Stella when she was six and never came back, though Stella did, with no memory of what happened. Stella has tried to move on, leaning hard into her friend Zoey and becoming popular and generally revered in her school… Until a body of a little girl who looks a LOT like Jeanie is found in the woods around the anniversary, and stirs up memories and fears in Stella. I love a teenager trying to find out the dark secrets of her hometown, and in “The Creeping” it’s a bit unclear as to whether this is a human monster, or something a bit more supernatural. I found the clues to be well placed, the tension to be pretty well paced, and the folk lore and history of the town to be compelling and mysterious. There are also touches upon the way that a community can get thrown into a frenzy when unexplainable things happen, so desperate for answers they find targets to focus on. These feelings didn’t really change too much from my initial read to this one.

But this time around I had some shifting feelings about the teenage relationships in a way that kind of surprised me! When I initially read this ten years ago my review was especially scathing towards Zoey, Stella’s opinionated and sometimes manipulative best friend who tries to push Stella to be as carefree and popular as she strives to be. And reading it now ten years later was an interesting comparison, as I still found Zoey to be a pretty mean girl, but I was more willing to give her a little bite of grace this time around. I appreciated the way that Sirowy depicts a complicated friendship between two friends who genuinely adore each other, but one is incredibly insecure in herself and lashes out instead of unpacking that insecurity (and hey, as someone who was once a teenage girl I found this VERY realistic). It was also a well done examination of how trauma can still linger and haunt a person, and how people around them can say that they are supportive and understanding, but then get burned out on it and can say and do some cruel things out of not really getting the weight of it all. Heck, I enjoyed all of the teenage relationships at the forefront of this book, whether it’s the messy one between Stella and Zoey, or the renewed and intimate dynamic between Stella and Sam, the friend she left behind at Zoey’s behest. I really loved seeing Stella and Sam come back together and found their romance not overpowering to the narrative, while also being very sweet and tender.

It was a enjoyable time revisiting “The Creeping”! I liked seeing how my thoughts shifted while still staying pretty aligned, and in two weeks I will be following up with another of Sirowy’s re-releases, “The Tellilng”!

Rating 8: A surprise re-read that I enjoyed in another way ten years after my first read, “The Creeping” is small town secrets, folklore thrills, and complicated teenage relationships all rolled into a quick and interesting thriller.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Creeping” is included on the Goodreads lists “YA Books Set in Minnesota”, and “YA Murder Mysteries”.

Kate’s Review: “The Butcher and the Liar”

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Book: “The Butcher and the Liar” by S.L. Woeppel

Publishing Info: Books Fluent, September 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a finished copy from the publicist

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Daisy Bellon thinks she may have buried her skeletons forever. At thirty-five, she runs a butcher shop in a forgotten corner of Chicago, keeping her past locked away. But when an anonymous letter arrives, she’s thrust back to the day her life split in two.

At nine years old, Daisy meets Caleb Garcia, a boy who makes her believe in the possibility of friendship and happiness. But that same night, she stumbles upon her father dismembering a woman in their basement and becomes his unwilling apprentice, sworn to keep his monstrous secrets. When the victim’s ghost appears in Daisy’s room, she’s bound to a haunting legacy. To endure, Daisy weaves a web of lies, clinging to the light of Caleb’s friendship while slipping deeper into the darkness of her father’s shadow.

More than two decades later, following the arrival of the mysterious letter, someone close to Daisy is brutally murdered in an all-too-familiar fashion. Forced to confront the truth about her family and herself, Daisy must decide whether to let the darkness consume her—or to fight for love and redemption, even if it means revealing everything she’s tried to bury.

A haunting psychological thriller perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, The Butcher and the Liar has mystery lovers and literary fiction readers on the edge of their seats.

Review: Thank you to Books Forward for sending me a copy of this novel!

I know that she is a darling of the modern thriller genre these days (and I do feel like it’s a well earned reputation), I have to admit that I have had mixed feelings about Gillian Flynn’s books. Loved “Dark Places”. Hated “Gone Girl”. Was middle of the road on “Sharp Objects”. I do kind of wish she’d come back and write another book like so many others do, but I also respect her for doing her own thing. Ultimately, if a book is compared to Gillian Flynn I’m a bit hesitant, both because I have mixed feelings about her works, but also because her works are so influential and hard to replicate. I wanted to check out “The Butcher and the Liar” by S.L. Woeppel when it ended up in our inbox because the premise sounded interesting (a woman made into an accomplice to her serial killer father’s crimes when she was a child trying to piece her life back together, oh my GOSH yes), but the Gillian Flynn angle made me say ‘okay sure, whatever you say’ because we’ve heard it so much. But as I was reading it I realized that it’s actually not a bad comparison.

I enjoyed the way that Woeppel combines a few different genres here to create something gritty yet dreamy, with thriller, historical fiction, family saga, and coming of age mixing up with a dash of the supernatural. We follow Daisy Bellon, the daughter of a notorious serial killer who murdered women over many years, and made Daisy an unwilling accomplice after she found him trying to dispose of a body of one of his victims. As a child she has only one friend, the boy next door named Caleb, whose friendship she always holds at arm’s length even as she grows to adore him… Until a ghost named Marina, who she believes is a victim of her father, latches on, and they too form a bond. In the present Daisy is an anonymous butcher in Chicago, who only opens up to her dear friend Miles. But when a neighbor is murdered in a similar fashion to her now imprisoned father’s M.O. she starts to wonder if she can ever really escape her past. It’s a lot of different vibes, but Woeppel is pretty good and finding the highlights of all the genres at their best to create a mystery, a ghost story, and a coming of age tale that mixes well and never feels too overstuffed. Whenever I would find myself questioning if it was too much going on, there would be things that made it clear that no, Woeppel knows what she’s doing with the different genres and it almost always came together in a satisfying manner.

I also really liked the two timeline narratives, flipping between Daisy in 2015 as she is dealing with potentially coming into the spotlight again with an art installation a new love interest is throwing and the murder of her neighbor, and the late 1980s into the early to mid 1990s as her father is murdering women and making her a witness. Daisy is such a complicated and damaged person who is both figuratively AND literally haunted (as the ghost of Marina is always by her side), and I found the way that she pushes others away and turns inwards upon herself in the past timeline to be very realistic and hard to read. And I really liked that she never falls into an all too common trope of ‘messy woman main character is bogged down by her messiness’, as I found Daisy to be very complicated but rarely frustrating in her journey. She’s traumatized, and there is lots of grace and nuance given to her. As we find out the connecting threads between the past and the present and what her motivation to be better has been, it comes together in the most satisfying way that left me both filled with heartache for her as well as satisfaction for how her story turn out, perhaps still a little messy, but not without hope for those who have done things that they regret and perhaps can’t fully understand. It’s such a bittersweet coming of age tale that went in ways I didn’t expect and it was really enjoyable.

“The Butcher and the Liar” should be on peoples radars if they like thrillers, coming of age tales, and complicated main characters. Maybe bring tissues too.

Rating 8: A haunting coming of age novel about a girl grappling with her dark family history and the part she played, “The Butcher and the Liar” is an emotional story about trauma and redemption.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Butcher and the Liar” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Best Coming of Age Thriller”.

Serena’s Review: “Fallen City”

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Book: “Fallen City” by Adrienne Young

Publishing Info: Saturday Books, November 2025

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

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

Book Description: Luca Matius has one purpose—to carry on the family name, maintaining its presence in the Forum once his powerful and cruel uncle dies. But his noviceship with the city’s Philosopher places him in the middle of a catastrophe that will alter the destiny of his people.

Maris Casoeria was raised amidst the strategic maneuvers of the Citadel’s inner workings, and she knows what her future holds—a lifetime of service to a corrupt city. But her years of serving as a novice to the last Priestess who possesses the stolen magic of the Old War has made her envision a different kind of future for the city. When she meets Luca, a fated chain of events is set into motion that will divinely entangle their lives.

As a secret comes to light and throws the city into chaos, Luca and Maris hatch a plot to create a calculated alliance that could tip the scales of power. But when an execution forces Luca to become the symbol of rebellion, he and Maris are thrown onto opposite sides of a holy war. As their fates diverge, they learn they are at the center of a story the gods are writing. And even if they can find their way back to each other, there may be nothing left.

Review: I’m a big fan of Adrienne Young and have read most of her books by this point. And now, having read so many of her stories, I’ve noticed something particular about her approach to love stories and romance (all the books I’ve read by her have some form of romance): she seems to gravitate toward “second chance” style love stories where characters have an established history and relationship but have been separated or estranged for some reason and must now come together again within this story. And I think the strengths and weaknesses of this book directly parallel this specific preference of Young’s.

So, the story roughly alternates between both POV characters in the past and then them both now in the present. The strengths of Young’s approach to romance and the story as a whole are definitely seen best in the portions of the story that take place in the present. Our two characters are separated through much of this, but this makes all of the tension and yearning and slow hints as to the full extent of their past all the better. It was easy enough to guess at some of the twists that took place in the past, making all of these hints all the more enjoyable in the present. While the few scenes with the characters together are, of course, bangers, it’s always impressive how well some of the moments when they are separated and reflecting on the other are the most romantic. Young knows well how to write unfulfilled yearning and two characters whose relationship is deep but strained by external factors.

I also enjoyed the storyline of the present more than that of the past. Events take place over only a few days in the present timeline, but that was more than enough time to fully depict a city in the middle of tearing itself apart, full of fear of the future and dread of the past. There was a lot of politics explored in this story, and I appreciated the honest look at the harsh realities of revolution. Tolerating corruption is, of course, impossible, but the book doesn’t shy away from the fact that revolution doesn’t automatically guarantee something better—and can often be much, much worse in the meantime.

I also really liked the history and magic of this world. It took a bit for me to fully grasp how this was all linking together, but by the end, it was clear that Young had been carefully laying the groundwork for her ultimate twist. Readers may have to be patient to see it all come together, but come together it definitely does.

Now, the weaknesses of the story definitely come into play in the portions of the book that take place in the past. Here, we see our two main characters meet and fall in love. And this is where we see the weaker side of Young’s ability to write romances. She’s absolutely excellent at the “second chance” portion, but the initial development of the relationship left something to be desired. Indeed, this was very close to insta-love in a lot of ways. Because the author is such a strong writer, it was easier to read through this quick progression of a relationship (even more so because it was broken up with jumps back to the present), but things still evolved very quickly and with very little development given on the page. These two pretty much just meet each other’s eyes and fall deeply in love, fully trusting one another fairly quickly when they really have zero reason to and much personal history on both sides that should instead make them incredibly wary. The story is definitely a retelling, of sorts, of Romeo and Juliet, so I get how this depiction of the timeline and plot beats of their relationship lines up, but it was still a bit frustrating to get so little actual development of the early portions of their relationship.

However, the strengths of the present timeline, the lovely depictions of our main characters’ relationship at this point, and the increasing conflict that leads to an explosive twist at the end were still more than enough to leave me happy with this book. I’m all the more excited for the next one, which presumably will take place fully in the present time period, doing away with the weaker plotline of this book entirely. Fans of Adrienne Young and political, romantic fantasy should definitely give this one a shot!

Rating 8: Full of pining and romantic tension, this book nicely blends political fantasy with a heart-wrenching love story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Fallen City” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2025 Romance Duets and High/epic Fantasy by female authors.

Kate’s Review: “Let Me In Your Window”

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

Book: “Let Me In Your Window” by Adam Ellis

Publishing Info: Andrews McMeel Publishing, September 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

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

Book Description: This sequel to Adam Ellis’s New York Times bestselling Bad Dreams in the Night is packed with terrifying twists, haunted houses, urban legends, and delightfully horrifying stories—like your own personal campfire ghost stories packed into a graphic novel. Each story will make you scream for more!

This brand-new collection of delightful horror comics includes nine new thrilling and terrifying stories that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and peering out their windows in fright. Adam Ellis, one of the biggest stars in webcomics, brings his unique blend of humor and horror to life with stunning illustrations and gripping narratives. Stories include Sleepwalker, about a terrifying and unexplained incident at a youth hostel, Old Machines, about receiving instant messages from a friend who has been dead for years, and Sunken Express, which chronicles a paranormal journey on a phantom subway car. Whether it’s a ghostly encounter, a creepy urban legend, or a supernatural mystery, Let Me In Your Window is guaranteed to give you the creeps.

Review: This past summer I reviewed Adam Ellis’s horror graphic collection “Bad Dreams in the Night”, and had mentioned that he had a new collection coming out this Fall. It probably comes as no surprise that I decided that I wanted to pick this one up as well given that I enjoyed the first one so much, and now that “Let Me in Your Window” is here I once again devoured the entire thing in one sitting. I just couldn’t help myself! Ellis’s horror stories are so quick and fun!

Like I do with most short stories collections I will talk about my three favorite stories first, then look at the collection as a whole.

“Little Kingdom”: We once again have the first story in the collection roping me in from the jump, which is always a great way to start. Two documentarians travel to a remote island that has a community that wanted to stay away from modern society, but birthed strange children who don’t seem like they are of this world. Unable to find success after this first film, they decide to go back to recapture another hit, but find something horrific instead. I love a documentary gone wrong story, and enjoyed the references and inspiration points, from North Sentinel Island to “Grey Gardens” to “Cannibal Holocaust”. Also an interesting question is raised about the ethics of making documentaries that could tread towards exploitation.

“Sunken Express”: I’m kind of seeing a similar pattern in the stories that stood out to me in this collection, as I first talked about the first story that really set the scene, and now I’m talking about the least horror-oriented story that had a little more bittersweetness to it. A man has heard an urban legend about an old subway stop that could possibly get you a ticket on a mysterious train that can take you to wherever your heart most desires. If you mess up the ritual, you may be stuck forever. You are supposed to be alone on the train…. except when he boards, he isn’t. Again, this isn’t a super scary story, it’s more about isolation, loneliness, the hope for redemption, and connection when you least expect it. I love a little emotion with my spooky stories.

“ReBrand”: AGAIN, following the same pattern as the first collection, as this was the last story in the book and it ended on a SUPREMELY CREEPY note! An aspiring model is frustrated when a mysterious digital billboard goes up across from her apartment, as the lights are keeping her awake at night. But one of the advertisements catches her eye: a youtube channel for a woman named Maarja Verine, who doesn’t seem to have much of a presence…. But she just has to keep checking back on her…. This one genuinely caught me off guard by the ending, and I was so shocked I immediately felt a need to go back and see if the clues were there. And they sure were! I really liked this one. It may have been my favorite in the collection.

An as a whole, I think that the stories in this book were all pretty solid! There were a couple that didn’t really connect with me (“Apple Head” felt a bit hokey, honestly), but none of them were BAD, per se. Ellis also has a fun style for his stories, able to have a charming and cute aesthetic that can shift into the grotesque on a dime. He has a real talent for these kinds of collections.

“Let Me in Your Window” was another enjoyable bundle of horror comics from Adam Ellis! It’s two for two for me, and I am going to manifest that we get more as time goes on!

Rating 8: Another fun horror comic collection from Adam Ellis! So fun and twisted.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Let Me in Your Window” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Horror Comics Anthologies”.

Serena’s Review: “Murder at Donwell Abbey”

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

Book: “Murder at Donwell Abbey” by Vanessa Kelly

Publishing Info: Kensington Books, November 2025

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

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

Book Description: Emma’s spirits are elevated after she and husband George Knightley host a joyful holiday celebration at the Hartfield estate. But it’s instantly a bitter January when her father makes an unexpected announcement—he and Miss Hetty Bates have decided to marry. Not only must Emma relinquish her role as mistress of the household, but also accept the reality that the excitable Miss Bates will become her stepmother . . .

More unwanted news arrives during an extravagant betrothal ball at Donwell Abbey, the grand Knightley estate where Emma and George will soon permanently reside. Nearly every villager in Highbury revels in the dazzling affair—except Emma’s hardworking lady’s maid, Prudence Parr. To Emma’s horror, Prudence is found dead, sprawled across the stones of the library terrace . . .

The woman’s tragic fall is quickly ruled a terrible accident and whispers circulate around personal troubles leading up to her untimely demise. But Emma’s instincts tell her that something far more sinister is at play. Now, Highbury’s matchmaker-turned-sleuth vows to outwit a cunning criminal before an innocent man loses his freedom—or Donwell Abbey plunges into a darker mystery . . .

Previously Reviewed: “Murder in Highbury”

Review: It’s kind of funny that the two mystery series that I’m currently keeping up to date on are both based on reinterpretations of Jane Austen characters! They’re also very different, which is probably what makes the entire situation doable! Given how much I enjoyed the first book in this series, I was excited to see how the sequel would turn out.

Ultimately, I didn’t love this one quite as much as the first one, but it was also a solid read overall! For one thing, this book begins to firmly move the characters and story beyond the bounds of what we were given in the original Emma. There were hints that Miss Bates and Mr. Woodhouse were moving into new territory at the end of the first book, but here we get confirmation with the announcement of their engagement. With this upcoming change, Emma and Mr. Knightley are free to begin moving back to Knightley’s home of Donwell Abbey, and the location of much of the action of this book. It was great fun getting to see a new side of Emma and Knightley as they navigate a new phase of their marriage. Emma, in particular, was quick to rise to the challenge of becoming the mistress of a new household.

With this relocation, we also were introduced to a whole host of new characters, both side characters and the victim and potential suspects. There were both pros and cons to this influx of new characters. For the positives, I really liked all of the new additions. They all felt like characters who could have existed in Austen’s original story but simply hadn’t been mentioned. I particularly enjoyed the housekeeper of Donwell and her team-ups with Emma at various points. However, the downside of all of these new additions was the simple fact that by having so many new characters, the book had less time to focus on the beloved originals.

While I enjoyed the Emma/Knightley scenes we had, I do wish we had more. I also would have liked to see more of Harriet and Mrs. Weston as well. That said, Miss Bates played a surprisingly large role in the story. I do think that some of her actions/reactions were a bit out of character (indeed, Vanessa Kelly didn’t devote entire pages to blocks of rambling dialogue from her, but I guess I can excuse that), but I still enjoyed seeing her in this sidekick role.

I also think the mystery itself was a bit predictable. Pretty much right from the start, I had a finger on who was involved in this entire situation. There were a few twists and turns throughout, but many of the major beats were telegraphed fairly clearly. That said, I really liked the numerous action scenes, something I wasn’t really expecting to find in this sort of historical mystery book.

Overall, this was an excellent entry in the series! I enjoyed the fact that it began to move the story beyond the confines of what we have from the original, and I’m excited to see even more of that in future books!

Rating 8: The mystery was a bit predictable, but I was mostly here for all the great Emma action, and that I got in spades!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Murder at Donwell Abbey” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Jane Austen Mysteries.

Book Club Review: “My Best Friend’s Exorcism”

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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 pulling genres from a hatch and matching them together in one book. 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: “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” by Grady Hendrix

Publishing Info: Quirk Books, May 2016

Where Did We Get This Book: Kate owns it

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

Mix-and-Match Genres: Horror and Humor

Book Description: Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act….different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?

Kate’s Thoughts

This was a re-read for me, and I was VERY curious to see how book club would like it given that I’m one of the few people who likes horror in our group. Well, it wasn’t a favorite, but it gave me an excuse to go on long diatribes about possession horror and demon horror and how its heydays line up with times of religious anxiety in this country, whether it’s Satanic Panic or the implementation of Vatican II or countless other examples. So, I had a fun time re-reading it and going into a TED talk for all of my oh so patient friends.

Me going on about Vatican II, the Warrens, and how the book version of “The Exorcist” was basically saying Reagan was taken over by a demon because Blatty wanted the world to know her Mom was a WHORE BECAUSE SHE WAS DIVORCED! (source)

This was a re-read for me, as I originally read it back in 2016 when it first came out, and it was fun to go back to it for a few reasons. For one, I still enjoy the story, and think that it’s a really enjoyable deconstruction of the possession trope by making the hero of the day not a religious authority, but a teenage girl who loves her best friend and wants to help her. I also still enjoy how Hendrix can capture the voice of teen girl characters, and how he made interesting comparisons between demons being cruel and teenage girls doing the same. And the 80s aesthetic is still fun (these days it may be a bit more played out than it was nine years ago). But it’s also interesting because after a re-read I realized that “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” probably isn’t my favorite Hendrix novel anymore even though up until my re-read I thought that it was. It’s still fun! It’s also very much a Gen X white guy fumbling some themes, but it’s also interesting because I noticed this because of the growth we’ve seen in his stories when it comes to these things. And it still has some truly scary beats while also being a bit bubblegum and joyful. It’s still a fun read.

“My Best Friend’s Exorcism” was a fun choice for book club that fostered a fair amount of conversation in our group.

Kate’s Rating 8: A fun re-read that still does a solid deconstruction of the possession trope with the power of female friendship at the forefront.

Book Club Questions

  1. How does this book compare to other demonic possession stories you have read or seen?
  2. What did you think of Gretchen and Abby’s friendship in the way it was written? Did it feel like a realistic teen girl relationship?
  3. Did the time period of the 1980s and the references bolster the story up, or did you find it to be a hindrance to the story overall?
  4. Hendrix has said that he rooted this story in the time of his youth. What do you think this story would look like if it had been set in a different time period?
  5. This book was picked because of the prompts horror and humor. What parts stood out as scariest to you? What parts did you find funny?
  6. Who would you recommend this book to?

Reader’s Advisory

“My Best Friend’s Exorcism” is included on the Goodreads lists “80s Flashback (Current Books with 1980s Settings)”, and “Horror With Retro Vibes”.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Bletchley Riddle” by Ruta Sepetys & Steven Sheinkin

Kate’s Review: “The Mad Wife”

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Book: “The Mad Wife” by Meagan Church

Publishing Info: S0urcebooks Landmark, September 2025

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

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

Book Description: They called it hysteria. She called it survival.

Lulu Mayfield has spent the last five years molding herself into the perfect 1950s housewife. Despite the tragic memories that haunt her and the weight of exhausting expectations, she keeps her husband happy, her household running, and her gelatin salads the talk of the neighborhood. But after she gives birth to her second child, Lulu’s carefully crafted life begins to unravel.

When a new neighbor, Bitsy, moves in, Lulu suspects that something darker lurks behind the woman’s constant smile. As her fixation on Bitsy deepens, Lulu is drawn into a web of unsettling truths that threaten to expose the cracks in her own life. The more she uncovers about Bitsy, the more she questions everything she thought she knew―and soon, others begin questioning her sanity. But is Lulu truly losing her mind? Or is she on the verge of discovering a reality too terrifying to accept?

In the vein of The Bell Jar and The Hours, The Mad Wife weaves domestic drama with psychological suspense, so poignant and immersive, you won’t want to put it down.

Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for sending me an ARC of this novel!

I have watched “Mad Men” a couple of times with my husband (I haven’t seen the full series like he has but I’ve seen plenty), and one of my favorite characters is Betty Draper. I like her so much I named one of our kittens after her. I love how messy she is, I love how complex she is, I don’t love how she treats her kids but it fits with her characterization, and I ultimately feel super, super bad for her. Because the great tragedy of her is that she is a person who was forced into a lifestyle she didn’t want as a homemaker with little to no agency (plus all the trauma from her childhood. Cycles keep on cycling!). Which wasn’t uncommon for many of the women in those positions during that time period. I kept thinking about Betty Draper as I read “The Mad Wife” by Meagan Church, which is also about a homemaker being forced to put on a pleasant face and a perfect facade, until it starts to break her.

There is a bit of a mystery here in this historical fiction thriller. Lulu is a 1950s housewife living in an idyllic suburban community, and while her outer veneer is perfection, she feels incredible pressure to keep a tidy house, keep a high standing in the social circle, and to keep her husband and son happy with her support, love, and care. Right around the time she gives birth to her second child, new neighbors move into the neighborhood, and Lulu thinks that something strange is going on with them, especially the wife, Bitsy. It’s a plot ripe for the picking when it comes to domestic thriller, and Lulu is a great protagonist because while we are inside her head and are seeing the strange things she is seeing, she is also more and more unreliable as the story goes on as all of the pressures of idealized 1950s femininity and homemaking start to catch up with her. It makes for some well done suspense and tension, and getting further into Lulu’s unraveling also ups the unease to make it all the more unnerving.

But it’s Lulu’s plight trying to be the perfect wife in a suburban nuclear family that really made this work for me, as we are constantly reminded and shown how little agency she has as a wife, as a mother, and even as a woman just trying to live her life. So much of her identity is wrapped up in perfection that she can just barely achieve (or not achieve, as no one is perfect even when society wants them to be with threat of judgement and shunning if they are not) that when things do start to come undone, not only is she worried about losing her friends, or her marriage, she also has to worry about other horrifying consequences as a ‘hysterical’ woman. There are talks about pills with no real explanation as to what to expect, involuntary psych holds, and even lobotomies for women who are deemed mentally unfit, as well as women who feel so trapped that they end up killing themselves to escape it all. I found myself fearing for Lulu, especially as more details are slowly revealed (one bit which I KIND of saw coming, but still absolutely gutted me). It’s a start reminder that these supposed ‘good old days’ that so many people want to force us back were really not so good for so many people.

“The Mad Wife” is harrowing and a well done thriller tale about a woman who is treading towards the end of her rope. I quite enjoyed it.

Rating 8: A slow burn of unease and a commentary on the housewife ideal from decades ago (as it makes an insidious comeback in modern times), “The Mad Wife” is haunting and suspenseful and a well done domestic thriller.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Mad Wife” is included on the Goodreads lists “Uncanny 1950s Ladies”, and “Novels about Motherhood”.