Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

If ye give not willingly, the Lords will rise…

In 1913, Henry Hamilton disappeared while on a business trip, and his sister, Sorrow, won’t rest until she finds out what happened to him. Defying her father’s orders to remain at home, she travels to Tidepool, the last place Henry is known to have visited. Residents of the small, shabby oceanside town can’t quite meet Sorrow’s eyes when she asks about her brother.

When corpses wash up on shore looking as if they’ve been torn apart by something not quite human, Sorrow is ready to return to Baltimore and let her father send in the professional detectives.

However, after meeting Ada Oliver, a widow whose black silk dresses and elegant manners set her apart from other Tidepool residents, Sorrow discovers Tidepool’s dark, deadly secret.

With this discovery, some denizens of Tidepool—human and otherwise—are hell-bent on making sure Sorrow never leaves their forsaken town.

Why I'm Waiting: I'm a huge fan of Lovecraftian re-retellings!

HAPPY READING!!

The Game - Review

Author: Linsey Miller

Genre: Young Adults / Thriller 

Format: Paperback

Pages: 240

The Game was one of my Most Anticipated reads from last year. It sounded like a cross between The Most Dangerous Game and The ABC Murders. So my attention had been grabbed. At the end of the day, because I did devour this book one day, this one fell middle of the road for me. I liked it, but it was a bit of a mixed bag of what I liked and didn't like.

Let's start with the Game itself. This was part that I liked the most as sort of an unofficial town tradition for its Seniors. For most of the book, it all seems innocent enough. Almost like a way for the seniors to unwind from the stress of graduating and the choices of what to do with their lives going forward. The rules are even set up to avoid being arrested, harming players, or anything else dangerous. However there is the mystery of who the Council of the Game actually are, and as the story unfolds I'm not overly sure the Game is as innocent as most of the town tell themselves it is. 

In fact, I'm pretty sure the Council has changed since the creation of the game. I also think the Game is the perfect distraction for the murders happening in Lincoln. I got so caught up with Lia and the Game, I actually wasn't trying to figure out who was killing people until maybe three-quarters of the way through the book.

I liked the way that Miller told this story. It's a bit all over the place, but then again so is Lia. I think that's why the mystery part falls a little short on your focus as you read. Since she's so focused on the game, as the reader you are too. I thought the fame job was fine considering who the actual doer of the story was and the reasons behind what they were killing. My only short of the issue is I don't know if I'd call a town with over three hundred seniors small. I grew up just a little north of Arkansas and my senior class was only in the double digits. But that's a small complaint. For a Young Adult book, I wasn't made the mystery/thriller part of the story.

I was also very pleased with the small side message that it's okay not to have your life figured out by the time you graduate college. It was good to see someone else say that it's okay to take a year off to save money or figure some things out. I liked seeing someone else that Trade School should be an option more high schools talk about because they should. They are just as valid. And, Community College is also a great option for those still unsure of what they want from their life. So hearing Gem say all of these things were great. They should be said more and louder for those in the back.

Now to the mix bag part, the cast of characters. Gem and Devon were the only two characters I honestly cared about of the main cast. Lia was great in the role as far as unreliable narrators go, and the story wouldn't have worked without her being so unseen about everyone around her. That being said it would be nice to see a bit more growth from Lia after the second murder considering who they were. Or, even the third considering the circumstances, but she's so meh about all the thing that gets on your nerves after a while. Yes, we all understand why this is so important to you, but bless Gem and Devon for sticking with her because I don't think I would have.

On top of that the cop who comes in after the third murder was a little much. While the frame job was acceptable considering the doer, a trained cop who moved into Lincoln (I assume from a bigger city) should have seen the cracks. He also wouldn't have been able to talk to an underage suspect the way he did and show her crime scene photos. That wouldn't have flown either. But, it added a nice bit of flair and gave me reasons to hate Lia's parents more. Which is my next point.

Lia's parents are the kind of parents that don't parent in the verb sense, not for either of their children. Their eldest was their favorite because he made them look good. He gave them something to brag about and to be proud of, but the second they realize that Lai falls in the middle of the "normal" things they try to control what she does. And, when she doesn't make them proud, she because a side note. They made my eyes twitch. It was kind of surprising that Lia wasn't the doer.

All-in-all it was a solid read. I devoured this in one day and enjoyed the ride, and would definitely read another book by Linsey Miller.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sundays

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

As an African tightrope dancer in Victorian London, Iris is used to being strange. She is certainly a strange sight for leering British audiences always eager for the spectacle of colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret that even “strange” doesn’t capture…​

She cannot die.

Haunted by her unnatural power and with no memories of her past, Iris is obsessed with discovering who she is. But that mission gets more complicated when she meets the dark and alluring Adam Temple, a member of a mysterious order called the Enlightenment Committee. Adam seems to know much more about her than he lets on, and he shares with her a terrifying revelation: the world is ending, and the Committee will decide who lives…and who doesn’t.

To help them choose a leader for the upcoming apocalypse, the Committee is holding the Tournament of Freaks, a macabre competition made up of vicious fighters with fantastical abilities. Adam wants Iris to be his champion, and in return he promises her the one thing she wants most: the truth about who she really is.

If Iris wants to learn about her shadowy past, she has no choice but to fight. But the further she gets in the grisly tournament, the more she begins to remember—and the more she wonders if the truth is something best left forgotten.

HAPPY READING!!

Book Haul

 Over the last weekend I unhauled a steamer trunk full of books to Half Price Books. This means I shopped while I waited for them to look through all my books. Because I mean I was already there! I found a few treasures to take home with me. I need to unhaul my bookshelves at some point because I need the room, and there are a lot of books there that I sadly will never get to. But, that will be a chore for another day!

Then on Monday, I ran to Dollar Tree for snacks because they're a dollar. I wasn't planning on getting another book. Mostly because I always strike out with books I find there. Mostly it's books I've read or books that aren't my cup of tea. But, this week I snagged Blood for Blood! I now have both books in the duology. This means now I really need to read the series now that I have a matching set! 

Even though I'm really excited about the books I picked up, we all know how it goes. I'm telling myself I'll read them sooner, rather than later. The truth is it will be later. It's always later.

Anyone else picked up any new books recently?

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Piper Sullivan never should have been at Suicide Point the day she fell. Her older sister, Savannah, knows this with all her heart—just as she knows that Piper’s “accident” was entirely her fault. Savannah did something awful, something she can barely stand to think about, and now Piper is in a coma.

But just as Savannah’s guilt threatens to swallow her whole, she finds something strange in Piper’s locker: a note inviting Piper to a meeting of their school’s wilderness club…at the very place and on the very day she fell. This means that there’s a chance Piper wasn’t alone.

Maybe it isn’t Savannah’s fault, after all. Someone in the club might know what really happened. Someone might have done something. But why? If Savannah wants to find out the truth about that tragic day, she’ll have to join the club on their weekend-long camping trip…on the very same mountain where her sister fell. And with everyone in the club a suspect, she’ll need to be careful or she might follow her sister into the dark.

Why I'm Waiting: All of Chelsea Ichaso's books sound like a rollercoaster ride. This one included.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesdays

Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling's curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother's choosing before her eighteenth birthday.

Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family's cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom.

Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother's debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match . . . but what if the best match is Tevin himself?

HAPPY READING!!

The Factory Witches of Lowell - Review

Author: C.S. Malerich

Genre: Novella

Format: Paperback

Pages: 127

This was one of those I saw at the library and added it to my already towering stack of books, finds. Novellas have been a great way to pull me out of my reading slumps this year, and The Factory Witches of Lowell didn't let me down.

This was a fast-paced story that kept you turning pages and made it hard to put down. It was also very well researched. Even though this was a novella we did get a quick history of the town and how the mills became to be. We even got a quick rundown on how the factors girls did and the dangers involved with those jobs. All of these things were told in a way that fits well into the story and didn't leave me lost or confused, or felt like an information dump. These facts blended in with the story to explain the magic or the demands of the striking factory girls.

I liked the magic system that Malerich introduced in this story. It was one familiar that I'd seen before in other mediums, so it didn't need to be explained away more than their spell was going to work. In my opinion, this allowed the story to flow without stopping to explain the way the system works, pulling away from the story itself. 

Judith and Hannah were also amazing main characters. Both of them were very different, but in a way that made it easy for them to work together to lead this strike. More so than just with Hannah's sight. I felt the two complemented each other nicely. It also meant their slow-burning relationship wasn't that much of a leap. It was clear that Judith cared for Hannah from the start of the book, and that was the base theme that carried across the whole novella. Their ending made the slow burn worth it in the end.

My favorite bit about this book is that it left me torn. Apart from I really liked how short the story was and how open the end of the story was. While it ended on a happy note, you left questioning how long that happiness would last. Because something was coming. On the other hand, I also wish the book would have been a little longer to see more of what led up to the strike, maybe learn more about Judith's past, and get to know the rest of the cast of characters.

Because one issue with this book was that so many characters were introduced so quickly that I kept getting the side characters flipped around. I would have to stop and remember which character was which, and how they tied into the story. 

All-in-all this was a fun book and I'm glad I added it to my library TBR pile.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sundays

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

A spirited young Englishwoman, Abitha, arrives at a Puritan colony betrothed to a stranger – only to become quickly widowed when her husband dies under mysterious circumstances. All alone in this pious and patriarchal society, Abitha fights for what little freedom she can grasp onto while trying to stay true to herself and her past.

Enter Slewfoot, a powerful spirit of antiquity newly woken… and trying to find his own role in the world. Healer or destroyer? Protector or predator? But as the shadows walk and villagers start dying, a new rumor is whispered: Witch.

Both Abitha and Slewfoot must swiftly decide who they are, and what they must do to survive in a world intent on hanging any who meddle in the dark arts.

HAPPY READING!!

Dakota Crumb: Tiny Treasure Hunter - Review

Author: Jamie Michalak

Genre: Picture Book

Format: Hardback

Pages: 32

Huge thanks to Goodreads & Candlewick Press for my copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

This book came at the perfect time. I have been in the worst reading slump so far this year. One where I've started several books, but not actually finished a single one. The worst part has been I have no idea why, just nothing has kept my attention. Then this little gem appeared in my mailbox! 

It's was not only a really quick read but an absolutely adorable read. The story follows Dakota as she hunts for hidden treasure in the museum she lives in. It's got a little bit of a Night of the Museum and Indiana Jones vibes to it. It's a quick pace story with a handful of words on every other page, which makes it's the perfect bedtime book. At least in my opinion.

The artwork that accompanies the story brings Dakota's museum to life. The pages are colorful and eye-catching and help to tell the story along the way. I mean the first thing that caught my eye was the cover. Kelly Murphy did an amazing job illustrating especially when it came to the fact that along with the story is a game of hunt and find.

At the end of the book, there is a challenge to find some of Dakota's objects through the museum as she goes on her treasure hunt. Murphy did a wonderful job hiding some of these things in plain sight, while others blend into the background and aren't so easy to find.

I thought this was book was adorable and could easily be any kid's favorite. For me, it was a cute way to start pulling myself out of this reading slump. Not only have I finished a book, but it was completely adorable as well.

Dakota Crumb: Tiny Treasure Hunter is available now!

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Zuretta never thought she’d encounter a monster—one of the world’s most notorious serial killers. She had resigned herself to a quiet life in Utah. But when her younger sister, Ruby, travels to Chicago during the World’s Fair, and disappears, Zuretta leaves home to find her.

But 1890s Chicago is more dangerous and chaotic than she imagined. She doesn’t know where to start until she learns of her sister’s last place of employment…a mysterious hotel known as The Castle.

Zuretta takes a job there hoping to learn more. And before long she realizes the hotel isn’t what it seems. Women disappear at an alarming rate, she hears crying from the walls, and terrifying whispers follow her at night. In the end, she finds herself up against one of the most infamous mass murderers in American history—and his custom-built deathtrap.

Why am I waiting: Having a favorite serial killer would be weird, but if I did H.H Holmes would be in the running. So I'm all in on this book.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Jake Livingston is one of the only Black kids at St. Clair Prep, one of the others being his infinitely more popular older brother. It’s hard enough fitting in but to make matters worse and definitely more complicated, Jake can see the dead. In fact, he sees the dead around him all the time. Most are harmless. Stuck in their death loops as they relive their deaths over and over again, they don’t interact often with people. But then Jake meets Sawyer. A troubled teen shot and killed six kids at a local high school last year before taking his own life. Now a powerful, vengeful ghost, he has plans for his afterlife–plans that include Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about ghosts and the rules to life itself goes out the window as Sawyer begins haunting him and bodies turn up in his neighborhood. High school soon becomes a survival game–one Jake is not sure he’s going to win.

HAPPY READING!!

Favorite Reads of 2021 pt 1

Since it's Monday I'd thought I'd throw out some of my favorite reads in the first half of the year. I'm just a bit over halfway to my reading goal, and so far I've read some really good books. Shockingly there have been only a few that disappointed me. I have, however, DNF-ed more books this year. Mostly anything that wasn't keeping my attention as well as not as good as I hoped. But, the books below were the ones that surprised me the most how much I enjoyed them. Though for a couple enjoy isn't the right word: Last Call is heart-wrenching but very well written and Whisper Down the Lane is downright creepy as hell. I recommend all of these! I've been shoving at my friends since I finished them!

Drop a comment below to tell me some of your favorite reads so far this year!

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sundays

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

Sixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation.

Summer 1958—a string of murders plagues the Midwest. The victims are found in their cars and in their homes—even in their beds—their bodies drained, but with no blood anywhere.

September 19- the Carlson family is slaughtered in their Minnesota farmhouse, and the case gets its first lead: 15-year-old Marie Catherine Hale is found at the scene. She is covered in blood from head to toe, and at first, she’s mistaken for a survivor. But not a drop of the blood is hers.

Michael Jensen, son of the local sheriff, yearns to become a journalist and escape his small-town. He never imagined that the biggest story in the country would fall into his lap, or that he would be pulled into the investigation when Marie decides that he is the only one she will confess to.

As Marie recounts her version of the story, it falls to Michael to find the truth: What really happened the night that the Carlsons were killed? And how did one girl wind up in the middle of all these bodies?

HAPPY READING!!

Most Anticipated Releases 2021 pt. 2

Hello all Worms, Nerds, and Dragons! Somehow, someway, we are all halfway through 2021. I'm officially dating everything at work with a seven. It's hard to believe since the last couple of months had both seemed to fly by and drag along at the same time. But, since it's finally July that means it's time to take a look at some of the books I'm excited to see released in the next six months. These are only my top few, my anticipated TBR for the second half of the year is quite long!

What other new releases is everyone else excited to get their hands on?

HAPPY READING!!