Before I picked read FROM SAND AND ASH, I had no idea (or if I did, I totally forgot) of the incredible role the Catholic Church played in saving many Jewish people during World War II. Amy Harmon beautifully weaves together fiction and her own characters with historical ...
Book Review – We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen
November 16, 2016 by · 3 Comments
WE ARE STILL TORNADOES is a coming-of-age young adult novel that centers around two best friends, Cath and Scott. What Michael Kun and Susan Mullen did wonderfully was capturing the beauty of friendship and the importance of having that special someone to lean on when life ...
Audiobook Review – What Light by Jay Asher
November 3, 2016 by · 2 Comments
Jay Asher's newest novel, WHAT LIGHT, offers a sweet romance about forgiveness and redemption with a charming premise, but it's not one that will be a literary holiday tradition for me. Every year, Sierra and her family travel from their hometown in Oregon to California ...
Book Review – Blood Red Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick
November 2, 2016 by · 4 Comments
Blood Red Snow White is a set of three short stories and a fictionalized account of author Arthur Randsome's time in Russia during Russian Revolution. Sedgwick brings readers on a thrilling journey, detailing both sides of war between the Red and the White. I was surprised ...
Audiobook Review – A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess
October 31, 2016 by · 4 Comments
Set in London during the Victorian era, A SHADOW BRIGHT AND BURNING is a decent beginning to Jessica Cluess's Kingdom on Fire series. While the characters and plot are both rather generic, the darker setting and bits of action pulled me in. Henrietta is thought to be the ...
Book Review – Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down by Anne Valente
October 30, 2016 by · Leave a Comment
OUR HEARTS WILL BURN US DOWN is a poignant portrait of grief, told in the collective voice through the eyes of four best friends after a mass school shooting. While the story was not poorly written, the writing style was distracting at times, the novel was lacking in ...
Book Review – The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
October 26, 2016 by · Leave a Comment
I freaking love enemies-to-lovers stories, so I was delighted when I read the synopsis for Sally Thorne's debut, THE HATING GAME. Even though I read this book nearly in one sitting, it wasn't a complete hit for me. Thorne writes characters with great chemistry, but without a ...
Book Review – Replica by Lauren Oliver
October 17, 2016 by · 8 Comments
Lauren Oliver's Replica has an interesting and alluring premise with two girls—one who was manufactured in a lab and one who is not—learning the truth about their life. The book has some moments that will left me flipping to the next page but in the end felt somewhat ...
Book Review – Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
October 5, 2016 by · 2 Comments
Crooked Kingdom was the book I was most looking forward to reading this year. The depth and edge-of-your-seat suspense that Leigh Bardugo delivered in Six of Crows was nearly absent in Crooked Kingdom. Uneven pacing and lack of character growth was Crooked ...
Book Review – The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti
October 4, 2016 by · 4 Comments
The Vanishing Year called to me after reading its intriguing synopsis about a woman running from her past into the arms of a prominent member of Manhattan's elite. While I will admit that Moretti's story had me glued to the pages to find out what happened, the multiple plot ...
