Tag: mini review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 10:15 am by Laura, on August 19, 2019

  July has been a whirlwind of success at work (another deal announcement to come soon, eventually, maybe, keep your eyes open!) and the last few months is crunch time for the wedding, so I’ve been incredibly busy. Not enough time to write up reviews of the books I’ve read! Read, rate, carry on! So here is the miniest of mini reviews for a few of those books I’ve read lately…

  

  

  

  

  Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon — ★★★ — Priory is inspired by the legends of King Arthur as well as St George and the Dragon. Know those legends and you have a great sense of this book. Shannon builds this world from the ground up, and it mirrors our own—Virtudom is clearly Christianity/Holy Roman Empire, the East and South clearly inspired by Asia, Middle East, and Africa. A diverse cast of characters and cultural interpretations, all with different understandings and beliefs of dragons. The dragon lore was neat. The plot threads were intricate and detailed, and I was impressed with how they wove together. That said, the pacing was off, this was far too long (I know the intention was to have one epic feminist fantasy standalone, but it could’ve been edited down another 200 pages OR split into two books, easily), some elements of worldbuilding were dumped through clunky dialogue, and though I enjoyed the folktale way this was written it actually kept me at a distance from the characters and their hopes, dreams, desires, and motivations. And therefore lots of elements didn’t feel relatable, authentic, or justified. I’ve read many reviews of this book, in trusted trade publications as well as readerly reactions. This worked for some, not for others. I think I’m firmly in the middle. I enjoyed it; there are aspects I connected to, was interested in, was impressed by. And equally elements that could’ve been much better if given more attention.

  This qualifies as book 5 in my TBR challenge.

  Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston — ★★★ — I was super excited for this and enjoyed the first half well enough—laughed out loud even!—but I think my own expectations are at fault here with regards to my enjoyment of the novel. I was expecting The Royal We (but gay), or Royals (but gay), a book firmly placed in adult (though it’s drawing a YA crowd) that deals with the ins and outs of a budding romance between two top people in their respective countries (which this kind of does…kind of). That’s not quite what this book is and if someone told me it’s more New Adult than YA or adult, specifically that it’s more sexy times than plot, then I would’ve bypassed this for something else. I want plot and character development and deep, thoughtful discussions, but instead found bantering (least favorite dialogue), hate to love (least favorite trope), and more sex than plot development. Needless to say, I was really into the politics of this (what a dream America!), the family dynamics, and the PR/behind-the-scenes elements. Again, many of my critiques on this book I can only blame on myself and my expectations. If you love the tropes and dialogue I mentioned above, if you love New Adult, if you love romance as Plot A, this is definitely your book!

  This qualifies as book 6 in my TBR challenge.

  The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan — ★★★ — Ryan’s previous WWII novel, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, was fun, cheeky, and hilarious while at the same time heart-wrenching and mournful. It was also written in epistolary form, with letters and diary entries informing the reader of the goings-on in the village. The Spies of Shilling Lane didn’t shine quite as much in comparison. It follows your standard narrative form of Point A to Point B, in third person, flipping between Mrs Braithwaite, her daughter Betty, and Betty’s landlord and Mrs B’s sidekick Mr Norris. The spies aren’t as intense as you’d expect from The Alice Network, for instance, but it does shed light on the situations at home and just how unsettling everything was with the inability to trust anyone. Moles, leaks, and double agents are littered throughout the narrative, and Mrs B and Mr Norris are caught in the crossfire. It was entertaining but forgetful. I think it was meant to be more on the funny and cheeky side of things, but I simply wasn’t catching on to that. Read it with a bit of humor in mind, and it’s like watching two old people bumble around solving cozy mysteries when they’re really in the thick of something much worse. I expected more, and perhaps I wasn’t exactly in the humorous mood, but if you need a light WWII novel I would highly recommend this one. Sometimes the genre can get very heavy—but have no fear, Mrs B is here!

  This qualifies as book 7 in my TBR challenge.

  Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear — ★★★ — I stumbled across this book when looking up comparative titles for a client’s new project. Frankly there aren’t enough Great Khan/steppe-or-China/Song-dynasty era books out there. A favorite last year, The Bird and the Blade, is inspired by an opera that’s inspired by this era, but that’s all I’m really aware of. I was drawn to the premise, stayed for the setting (the steppes are vast!), and left interested in reading another Elizabeth Bear book. I didn’t quite connect with the characters or their quest fully, but Bear’s writing hooked me.

  This qualifies as book 11 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2019 | 5 Comments | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: fantasy, genre: historical fiction, genre: romance, mini review, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 7:53 am by Laura, on June 3, 2019

  The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

  Publisher: Park Row
  Published: January 2019
  Genre: historical fiction
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: Grace Healey is rebuilding her life after losing her husband during the war. One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal on her way to work, she finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench. Unable to resist her own curiosity, Grace opens the suitcase, where she discovers a dozen photographs—each of a different woman. In a moment of impulse, Grace takes the photographs and quickly leaves the station. She learns that the suitcase belonged to a woman named Eleanor Trigg, leader of a ring of female secret agents who were deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of these women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but they never returned home, their fates a mystery. Setting out to learn the truth behind the women in the photographs, Grace finds herself drawn to a young mother turned agent named Marie, whose daring mission overseas reveals a remarkable story of friendship, valor and betrayal.

  Mini Review: I adored Grace and Eleanor’s characters, and I felt Marie was…lacking. This also wasn’t at all what I was expecting, which was great––but on the other hand, all of that suspense and build-up to what really happened fell flat for me. Though the end is tied neatly together, I would’ve given higher stars if all those questions and the tension didn’t build up to what ended up happening. If you love WWII hist fic, definitely read this. It’s exciting, it’s a neat little puzzle, but in many ways the true action of the story was kept hidden from the reader, all behind-the-scenes, which was meant to build tension I’m sure but left it feeling loose and frustrating. I’d recommend other WWII female agent or French Resistance stories above this one, but still good to add to the general collection.

  This qualifies as book 5 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  In Another Time by Jillian Cantor

  Publisher: Harper Perennial
  Published: March 2019
  Genre: historical fiction
  Rating: ★★★★
  Summary: 1931, Germany. Bookshop owner Max Beissinger meets Hanna Ginsberg, a budding concert violinist, and immediately he feels a powerful chemistry between them. It isn’t long before they fall in love and begin making plans for the future. As their love affair unfolds over the next five years, the climate drastically changes in Germany as Hitler comes to power. Their love is tested with the new landscape and the realities of war, not the least of which is that Hanna is Jewish and Max is not. But unbeknownst to Hanna is the fact that Max has a secret, which causes him to leave for months at a time—a secret that Max is convinced will help him save Hanna if Germany becomes too dangerous for her because of her religion.

  In 1946, Hanna Ginsberg awakens in a field outside of Berlin. Disoriented and afraid, she has no memory of the past ten years and no idea what has happened to Max. With no information as to Max’s whereabouts—or if he is even still alive—she decides to move to London to live with her sister while she gets her bearings. Even without an orchestra to play in, she throws herself completely into her music to keep alive her lifelong dream of becoming a concert violinist. But the music also serves as a balm to heal her deeply wounded heart and she eventually gets the opening she long hoped for. Even so, as the days, months, and years pass, taking her from London to Paris to Vienna to America, she continues to be haunted by her forgotten past, and the fate of the only man she has ever loved and cannot forget.

  Mini Review: I picked up this book because it was a pre- and post-WWII novel about a bookseller and a violinist, both professions tapping into my biggest life passions. But something about the premise initially kept me at a distance—dissociative memory loss, or amnesia, as a plot device. One of my least favorite. But fairly early on we learn it’s not quite that—it’s wormholes. Time travel. At first I wished I’d known about that up front. But then perhaps I wouldn’t have picked this book up. I fell in love with Hanna’s story, felt deeply her passion for music, for playing, for always being attached to her violin. Cantor is an excellent writer—I felt immersed in Europe, lost in time, along with Hanna and Max. I enjoyed this book, and I was eager to see how they found each other again, if ever. Moving and impactful, even with the time-travel-as-science element.

  This qualifies as book 6 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

  Publisher: Sourcebooks
  Published: June 2013
  Genre: historical and contemporary fiction
  Rating: ★★★★ 
  Summary: Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird—the mythical creature from an old Russian fable. Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna into the past who leads her on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption.

  Mini Review: I highly recommend listening to this on audio. The narrator does an excellent job not only when men and women are speaking, but also English, Scottish, Irish, French, and Russian accents. It was an absolute pleasure to listen to this! As to the book itself, it’s a long and quiet book, meant to be savored. The narrative storytelling is incredibly immersive, drawing you in with each of Nicola’s ESP experiences. Nicola wars between wanting to master her gift like her friend Rob, who utilizes his abilities to read minds and see the ghosts/spirits of history in his daily life, and keeping it suppressed like her grandfather wishes her to do. It’s an excellent commentary on what’s considered “normal” and what’s considered “a gift,” and drawing upon those strengths to navigate through life. I especially enjoyed Anna’s narrative too — she had to learn at a very young age how to distinguish between honest and distrustful people during a very turbulent time in European history. The combination of these two narratives with the help of Nicola’s ESP abilities made for a magical read (or listen)!

  This qualifies as book 7 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2019 | 0 Comments | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, mini review, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 9:30 am by Laura, on May 2, 2019

  Roomies by Christina Lauren 

  Publisher: Gallery
  Published: December 2017
  Genre: women’s fiction
  Rating: ★★★.5
  Summary: For months Holland Bakker has invented excuses to descend into the subway station near her apartment, drawn to the captivating music performed by her street musician crush. Fate steps in one night in the form of a drunken attacker. Calvin Mcloughlin rescues her, but quickly disappears when the police start asking questions. Using the only resource she has to pay the brilliant musician back, Holland gets Calvin an audition with her uncle, Broadway’s hottest musical director. Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until his reason for disappearing earlier becomes clear: he’s in the country illegally, his student visa having expired years ago. Seeing that her uncle needs Calvin as much as Calvin needs him, a wild idea takes hold of her. Impulsively, she marries the Irishman, her infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves and Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway—in the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting—will Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?

  Mini Review: Broadway, musicians, Irishmen, Midwesterner in NYC—a recipe for a book I knew I’d enjoy! This was my first Christina Lauren novel and I enjoyed the writing and romance—what a complicated and frightening, confusing situation Holland and Calvin found themselves in—all of it still somehow so grounded and relatable. From the crash info sessions while filling out paperwork to the drilled interview questions in the office, backstage swoons on Broadway to little moments of vulnerable quiet at home—I was immersed in all of it. Hopefully reading another Christina Lauren soon!

  This qualifies as book 3 in my TBR challenge.

  Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

  Publisher: William Morrow
  Published: March 2017
  Genre: women’s fiction
  Rating: ★★★★
  Summary: Nikki lives in West London, where she tends bar at the local pub. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she’s spent most of her twenty-odd years distancing herself from the traditional Sikh community of her childhood, preferring a more independent (that is, Western) life. When her father’s death leaves the family financially strapped, Nikki, a law school dropout, impulsively takes a job teaching a “creative writing” course at the community center in the beating heart of London’s close-knit Punjabi community. Because of a miscommunication, the proper Sikh widows who show up are expecting to learn basic English literacy, not the art of short-story writing. When one of the widows finds a book of sexy stories in English and shares it with the class, Nikki realizes that beneath their white dupattas, her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories. Eager to liberate these modest women, she teaches them how to express their untold stories, unleashing creativity of the most unexpected—and exciting—kind. As more women are drawn to the class, Nikki warns her students to keep their work secret from the Brotherhood, a group of highly conservative young men who have appointed themselves the community’s “moral police.” But when the widows’ gossip offers shocking insights into the death of a young wife—a modern woman like Nikki—and some of the class erotica is shared among friends, it sparks a scandal that threatens them all.

  Mini Review: I wanted something fun, with depth, and Punjabi Widows was just the ticket. Nikki needs to take on an extra job to make ends meet and decides to answer a callout for writing instructors while pinning her sister’s matchmaking ad on the temple community board. Though she was under the impression she would be teaching women to write creative stories, she finds out her real job is to help them learn to read and write, period. In Punjabi, in English, either, both, all of the above. But as she continues her lessons she finds these women seek escape in stories—specifically erotica—as these stories are the only ways they can express themselves without shame. The writing was engaging, and the plot—with male morality police (god, oppressive men are everywhere for us, aren’t they?), mysterious deaths, hush money, and double lives—unexpectedly twisty and thrilling. I loved these women and their stories, ones that stemmed from their lost loves and others from their imagination, the way Nikki empowered them and they ways they strengthened her. If you’re looking for a good sisterhood book and what it means to be part of a community, this is it!

  Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

  Publisher: Forever
  Published: April 2019
  Genre: women’s fiction, chick lit
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: On her first day of law school, Kailyn ran – quite literally – into the actor she crushed on as a teenager, ending with him sprawled on top of her. Mortified to discover the Daxton Hughes was also a student in her class, her embarrassment over their meet-cute quickly turned into a friendship she never expected. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming either. Now, eight years later, Dax is in her office asking for legal advice. Despite her anger, Kailyn can’t help feeling sorry for the devastated man who just became sole guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister. But when her boss gets wind of Kailyn’s new celebrity client, there’s even more at stake than Dax’s custody issues: if she gets Dax to work at their firm, she’ll be promoted to partner. The more time Kailyn spends with Dax and his sister, the more she starts to feel like a family, and the more she realizes the chemistry they had all those years ago is as fresh as ever. But will they be able to forgive the mistakes of the past, or will one betrayal lead to another?

  Mini Review: Romcoms lately have taken a pleasant turn to include more than just a meet cute (ha!) and romance—other compelling elements in the narrative are propelling the plot forward, which definitely makes me happy! With a cute cover and classic romcom premise, I thought I would enjoy a very surface-level comedy on meeting and interacting with a celebrity crush. But it’s a little deeper than that—Daxton suddenly has to care for his little sister, and their aunt is suing for custody. Kailyn was a great character to relate to and root for, and she has a good head on her shoulders. Daxton’s situation was genuinely heartbreaking to read, and Emme’s teenage reaction to everything catapulted me back to my own middle school years. But around the middle of the novel I wished this custody case would just wrap up already—lots of repetitive scenes, dialogue, and thoughts bogged down the momentum of the story as well as the romance. Overall this was a solid, good read to pass the time.

  This qualifies as book 4 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2019 | 2 Comments | Tagged genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: romance, mini review, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 6:25 am by Laura, on February 25, 2019

  Today I’m sharing two vastly different novels — one is deeply character-driven, and the other deeply plot-driven — both eliciting similar ratings for enjoyment. Should be fun!

  A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

  Publisher: Viking
  Published: September 2016
  Genre: historical fiction
  Rating: ★★★.5
  Summary: In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.

  Mini Review: I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this novel. Character-driven narratives are my jam, but for a novel to be almost entirely devoid of plot was astounding. This novel follows a man living in confinement as a Former Person in a Moscow hotel following the Revolution. He was once a member of the aristocracy, and as the decades pass he continues to live with one foot in nostalgia and one foot looking toward the future. I enjoyed his turn of phrase, how he made the most of his circumstances, and the way time (passage of, experience within the moment, and history itself) altered while he was trapped in the hotel. He was an individual who still saw his “comrades,” the believers of the People as one homogeneous group, as individuals. When one girl’s life rests in his hands, he moves from a life of leisure to one of purpose, which was a joy to watch develop. (The experience was a bit like reading a narrative of the Earl of Grantham through the eyes of Carson the Butler in Downton Abbey.) I can’t pinpoint what exactly pushed me through to continue reading, but I’m glad I did!

  When You Read This by Mary Adkins

  Publisher: Harper
  Published: February 2019
  Genre: contemporary
  Rating: ★★★.5
  Summary: For four years, Iris Massey worked side by side with PR maven Smith Simonyi, helping clients perfect their brands. But Iris has died, taken by terminal illness at only thirty-three. Adrift without his friend and colleague, Smith is surprised to discover that in her last six months, Iris created a blog filled with sharp and often funny musings on the end of a life not quite fulfilled. She also made one final request: for Smith to get her posts published as a book. With the help of his charmingly eager, if overbearingly forthright, new intern Carl, Smith tackles the task of fulfilling Iris’s last wish. Before he can do so, though, he must get the approval of Iris’ big sister Jade, an haute cuisine chef who’s been knocked sideways by her loss. Each carrying their own baggage, Smith and Jade end up on a collision course with their own unresolved pasts and with each other.
  

  Mini Review: Perfect for fans of Attachments and Eleanor Oliphant, this novel is a modern-day epistolary told through emails, blog posts, online therapy submissions, text messages, and other snippets from the characters’ virtual lives. There’s so much that can be gleaned from a person’s online presence! Though the formatting kept me from deeply connecting to the characters, I really enjoyed this quick read for all the ways one can see how people go about their days — their “external” communications with other people, as well as their “internal” struggles that still leave a footprint online (for example, all those pizza deliveries!). It’s also a captivating discussion on grief and death in the modern age — by emailing or writing on the loved one’s wall, knowing they’ll never see it or respond to it but somehow it helps us cope — that remarkably stays bittersweet and even funny without becoming too gloomy.

  This qualifies as book 1 of 10 in my library books challenge.

  Posted in Reviews 2019 | 0 Comments | Tagged genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: historical fiction, mini review, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 7:00 am by Laura, on December 10, 2018

  Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson

  Publisher: Flatiron Books
  Published: August 2018
  Genre: contemporary
  Rating: ★★★.75
  Summary: In Denmark, Professor Kristian Larsen, an urbane man of facts, has lost his wife and his hopes for the future. On an isolated English farm, Tina Hopgood is trapped in a life she doesn’t remember choosing. Both believe their love stories are over. Brought together by a shared fascination with the Tollund Man, subject of Seamus Heaney’s famous poem, they begin writing letters to one another. And from their vastly different worlds, they find they have more in common than they could have imagined. As they open up to one another about their lives, an unexpected friendship blooms. But then Tina’s letters stop coming, and Kristian is thrown into despair. How far are they willing to go to write a new story for themselves?
  

  Mini Review: This epistolary novel is perfect for readers of Guernsey Literary. It’s nostalgic, hopeful, sentimental. It’s not a happy novel, but it’s not sad either. These two people — a farmer’s wife in England and a museum curator in Denmark — find solace and companionship writing letters to one another throughout the course of a year. All their joys and sorrows of everyday life, in work and family, in love and friendship, in memory and philosophy, are shared in equal measure throughout the pages. The ending is open, but I’d like to think I know Tina’s decision and Anders’s response. A perfect, short, quick, warm read for the early winter months.

  Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean

  Publisher: HMH
  Published: November 2018
  Genre: young adult, fantasy
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple: survive and conquer the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms, and marry the prince. All are eligible to compete—all except yōkai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy. Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren’t hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yōkai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari’s fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yōkai outcast. The choices of Mari, Taro, and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku in this beautifully written, edge-of-your-seat YA fantasy.
  

  Mini Review: This Japanese-inspired fantasy was high on my anticipation list for quite a while. Mari, Taro, and Akira are such lonely souls, and in the end all three want liberation and equality for the yōkai. But in order to do that, Honoku needs to be saved by Mari, the one true empress. This was incredibly plot-driven, and I wish there was more character development here — in many ways it felt like a Hunger Games trilogy retelling packed in one book — but in the end the story felt like one you’d sit around a campfire and listen to. A legend, an oral tale. So while it wasn’t what I fully expected, Jean still delivered!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2018 | 0 Comments | Tagged genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: fantasy, genre: young adult, mini review, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 6:45 am by Laura, on October 4, 2018

  Save the Date by Morgan Matson

  Publisher: S&S BFYR
  Published: June 2018
  Genre: young adult, contemporary
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait—for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster. Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.

  Mini Review: Don’t read this if you’re planning a wedding, because it is literally a book about ALL THE THINGS THAT COULD GO WRONG. All the things. All of them. No but really, that aside, this book covers the 76 hours of a wedding weekend and all the growing pains that come with a giant family in flux. Charlie doesn’t know where she wants to go to college in the fall, she wants to have the perfect weekend with her family and all her siblings back in town, and hidden dramas from the past and present all culminate with her mother’s interview on the final comic strip she’s drawn for the last twenty years. If you love big casts and loud, outspoken characters, and high drama, Matson’s latest checks everything off the list. It’s nothing like her previous work and yet it still has her voice: the wholly middle class teen American girl with her everyday problems of school, friends, family, and crushes.

  The Royal Runaway by Lindsay Emory (ARC) 

  Publisher: Gallery
  Publishing: October 9
  Genre: women’s fiction
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: Princess Theodora Isabella Victoria of Drieden of the Royal House Laurent is so over this princess thing. After her fiancé jilted her on their wedding day, she’s finally back home after spending four months in exile—aka it’s back to press conferences, public appearances, and putting on a show for the Driedish nation as the perfect princess they expect her to be. But Thea’s sick of duty. After all, that’s what got her into this mess in the first place.

  So when she sneaks out of the palace and meets a sexy Scot named Nick in a local bar, she relishes the chance to be a normal woman for a change. But just as she thinks she’s found her Prince Charming for the night, he reveals his intentions are less than honorable: he’s the brother of her former fiancé, a British spy, and he’s not above blackmail. As Thea reluctantly joins forces with Nick to find out what happened the day her fiancé disappeared, together they discover a secret that could destroy a centuries-old monarchy and change life as they know it.

  Mini Review: The jacket summary is a little misleading. This implies the royal character has no interest in any of her duties and no desire in assisting her family. This implies she’s unhappy with everything about her life, and that it’s all a burden. That’s not the case, and I’m actually glad of it! The comparisons to The Royal We and Princess Diaries is enormously beneficial in this account because the characters from those novels are endearing and fun — like Thea is in this book, and unlike the jacket’s misleading snobbery.

  Rant on that aside, this novel was equal amounts entertaining and frustrating. I adored Thea in every scene that did not include the love interest, Nick (mostly because I had no interest in the love interest, and on top of that it seemed a little…rushed? forced?), because she was very much a go-get-’em woman, who knows herself and her mind and what she wants. She knows her duty to the crown, and wants breaks every once in a while from it, but it was so clear she adored her family and her country that she’d never turn her back on her role. I liked the chick-lit-meets-James-Bond chase plot, even though I was incredibly frustrated by everyone involved (in summation: “Trust me, don’t trust That Person, but I can’t tell you why I need you to trust me / why I want certain information from you, I just need you to!”). I loved the Driedish history and had to stop myself from Googling things (seriously, Emory made me believe this was was a real monarchy). A quick, fun read all around.

  Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book for review!

  Posted in books, Reviews 2018 | 2 Comments | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: young adult, mini review, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 6:45 am by Laura, on May 30, 2018

  Slightly South of Simple by Kristy Woodson Harvey

  Publisher: Gallery Books
  Published: April 2017
  Genre: women’s fiction
  Rating: ★★★.5
  Summary: Caroline Murphy swore she’d never go back to Peachtree Bluff. But when her New York high society husband cheats on her with a high-profile model, Caroline escapes the gossip with her daughter for the safety and quiet of her mother’s home. Ansley is the proud owner of a waterfront interior design business in Peachtree Bluff. She welcomes Caroline with open arms–and finds her second daughter Sloane, a military wife with two young sons, and third daughter Emerson, an up-and-coming actress in town for a film shoot, joining them for the season. Ansley lovesher daughters, but the chaos of their lives upends the steady constancy of her own carefully constructed life. Just as she’s beginning to get the hang of new responsibilities, someone from her past appears, one who can shed light on her daughters’ history and potentially tear the threads of Ansley’s family apart.  

  Mini Review: This novel explores the dynamics between sisters and mothers and daughters, what it means to be in a successful marriage, and the many ways one can live life on their terms. While Caroline and Ansley have their opinions of how to be happy (and I’m erring on the side of Ansley for Caroline’s decisions, and I’ve no clue what I’d do if I were Ansley in her situation), the events surrounding the women in Peachtree Bluff prove there is no one correct answer to life’s surprises. The small-town atmosphere, Southern charm, and emotional core are at the heart of this enjoyable beach read.

  This qualifies as book 6 of 16 in my TBR challenge. 

  My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan

  Publisher: William Morrow
  Published: April 2018
  Genre: women’s fiction
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: American Ella Durran has had the same plan for her life since she was thirteen: study at Oxford. At 24, she’s finally made it to England on a Rhodes Scholarship when she’s offered an unbelievable position in a rising political star’s presidential campaign. With the promise that she’ll work remotely and return to DC at the end of her Oxford year, she’s free to enjoy her Once in a Lifetime Experience. That is, until a smart-mouthed local who is too quick with his tongue and his car ruins her shirt and her first day.

  When Ella discovers that her English literature course will be taught by none other than that same local, Jamie Davenport, she thinks for the first time that Oxford might not be all she’s envisioned. But a late-night drink reveals a connection she wasn’t anticipating finding and what begins as a casual fling soon develops into something much more when Ella learns Jamie has a life-changing secret. As the end of her year in Oxford rapidly approaches, Ella must decide if the dreams she’s always wanted are the same ones she’s now yearning for.

  Mini Review: I really enjoyed the first half of this novel and wasn’t too pleased with the second half of the novel. Mostly because I kept thinking, “This story trope again? Why? This could’ve been so much more!” I enjoyed the writing of the first half as well, while the second half seemed to have a more cinematic quality to it rather than its more literary beginning (which makes sense, since it was written primarily as a screenplay–sink into the location and set-up and meet all the cast, then focus on minute details in conversations during The Event). That said, I love stories set in Oxford, I love Victorian literature, and I loved Ella’s political leanings and believe in education and the arts. Getting to be with this character (at least for the first half!) was an absolute joy.

  This qualifies as book 4 of 5 in my fun library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2018, Rock My TBR | 1 Comment | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, mini review, review, rock my TBR

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 6:50 am by Laura, on April 9, 2018

  Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella

  Publisher: Dial
  Published: February 2018
  Genre: adult, contemporary
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have all the trimmings of a happy life and marriage; they have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other’s sentences. However, a trip to the doctor projects they will live another 68 years together and panic sets in. In the name of marriage survival, they quickly concoct a plan to keep their relationship fresh and exciting: they will create little surprises for each other so that their (extended) years together will never become boring. But in their pursuit to execute Project Surprise Me, mishaps arise and secrets are uncovered that start to threaten the very foundation of their unshakable bond. When a scandal from the past is revealed that question some important untold truths, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all. 

  Mini Review: I enjoyed this to an extent. I wasn’t as enamored as I usually am with Kinsella’s work (here, here, here, and here). It was full of the classic mishaps and hilarity, with a twist at the end, but I simply wasn’t as entertained as I usually am. I’m not sure if it’s because I couldn’t completely relate with the drama (I’m not married, but also…duh, when you marry, that means you intend to be with the person for decades, so clearly I wasn’t on board with the premise) or because I couldn’t relate with the age of the characters (which sounds so bogus, so I don’t think it was that), but this doesn’t rank high on my Kinsella list of recommendations. If you want a light and funny read, give it a shot!

  This qualifies as book 2 of 5 in my fun library books challenge.

  Love and Other Train Wrecks by Leah Konen

  Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
  Published: January 2018
  Genre: young adult, contemporary
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: After a train-wreck first encounter between Ammy and Noah, the Amtrak train suddenly breaks down due to a snowstorm. Desperate to make it to their destinations, Noah and Ammy have no other option but to travel together. What starts off as a minor detour turns into the whirlwind journey of a lifetime, and over the course of the night they fall in love. But come morning their adventure takes an unexpected turn for the worst. Can one night can really change how they feel about love…and the course of their lives forever? 

  Mini Review: If you’re looking for a book on overcoming broken relationships (familial or romantic) in a more healthy way, this would be a good book. I especially enjoy travel components in stories, because it forces the character — and the plot! — to move forward. With the train getting stuck, and all the mishaps that follow, you begin to wonder when these two can catch a break and finally make it to their destinations (worst nightmare!). However, I didn’t feel the drive in the plot the way I suppose I should have, and I thought it was a bit repetitious in the characters’ ruminations (this is a short book and it felt as if half of this was rumination). That said, these two really do resort to good and healthy ways of dealing with their heartbreak, stress, and sense of brokenness that I admire.

  Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

  Publisher: Delacorte
  Published: April 2009
  Genre: adult, mystery, historical
  Rating: ★★★★
  Summary: Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce is an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. It is the summer of 1950—and a dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. To Flavia the investigation is the stuff of science: full of possibilities, contradictions, and connections. Soon her father is seized and accused of murder. In a police cell, during a violent thunderstorm, Colonel de Luce tells his daughter an astounding story—of a schoolboy friendship turned ugly, of a priceless object that vanished in a bizarre and brazen act of thievery, of a Latin teacher who flung himself to his death from the school’s tower thirty years before. Now Flavia is armed with more than enough knowledge to tie two distant deaths together, to examine new suspects, and begin a search that will lead her all the way to the King of England himself. Of this much the girl is sure: her father is innocent of murder—but protecting her and her sisters from something even worse….

  Mini Review: I listened to the audio of this novel and found the narrator’s voice painful to the ears, but the story itself absolutely delightful. Flavia is a precocious girl and incredibly imaginative. Combine these two things and you’re in the mind of a very clever, wild, eager person in the middle of a very serious case, right on the path to getting herself murdered as well if she’s not careful. Though this isn’t a heart-pounding, suspenseful mystery by any means (I could not care less about stamps — Grandpa would hate to hear me say that), the trail of clues and the roundabout way Flavia pieces everything together is a literary delight. Definitely plan on reading the next book of the series!

  This qualifies as book 3 of 5 in my fun library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2018 | 0 Comments | Tagged books, genre: adult fiction, genre: contemporary, genre: historical fiction, genre: mystery, genre: young adult, mini review, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 6:00 am by Laura, on February 22, 2018

  The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

  Publisher: Viking BFYR
  Published: April 2016
  Genre: young adult, historical fiction
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: Dolssa is a young gentlewoman with uncanny gifts, on the run from an obsessed friar determined to burn her as a heretic for the passion she refuses to tame. Botille is a wily and charismatic peasant, a matchmaker running a tavern with her two sisters in a tiny seaside town. When the matchmaker finds the mystic near death by a riverside, Botille takes Dolssa in and discovers the girl’s extraordinary healing power. But as the vengeful Friar Lucien hunts down his heretic, the two girls find themselves putting an entire village at the mercy of murderers.

  Mini Review: I did not like the writing, but the history is cool. I love historical fiction, and I was excited to read a novel set in the medieval period — which isn’t common or popular in YA. I appreciated the author’s notes in the back about the period — the persecution of “good men” and “good women” in the Provence area in particular after the Crusades, all the back-pedaling from the Church, life and times for women of this era — but I did not enjoy the narrative as a whole. I was more interested in the historical context and information in the back than I was in the story itself.

  This qualifies as book 2 of 16 in my TBR challenge. 

  Mr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal

  Publisher: Random House Audio
  Published: April 2012
  Genre: historical fiction, mystery
  Rating: ★★★.5
  Summary: London, 1940: Winston Churchill has just been sworn in, war rages across the Channel, and the threat of a Blitz looms larger by the day. But none of this deters Maggie Hope. She graduated at the top of her college class and possesses all the skills of the finest minds in British intelligence, but her gender qualifies her only to be the newest typist at No. 10 Downing Street. Her indefatigable spirit and remarkable gifts for codebreaking, though, rival those of even the highest men in government, and Maggie finds that working for the prime minister affords her a level of clearance she could never have imagined – and opportunities she will not let pass.

  Mini Review: I was genuinely surprised at how much more historical fiction it was than mystery — I was expecting something with a bit more heart-pounding moments or detective work — but that does not mean I didn’t enjoy the listen! Maggie’s spunk, fierce feminism, and determination saved the day multiple times in many ways. Those men at Downing Street could really learn a thing or two from her. I’m curious to see what happens next in this series.

  This qualifies as book 1 of 5 in my fun library books challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2018 | 0 Comments | Tagged genre: adult fiction, genre: historical fiction, genre: young adult, mini review, review

• Mini Reviews

  Posted at 5:25 am by Laura, on December 6, 2017

  Life has been crazy hectic, leaving very little time for me to sit down and write full reviews for the books I’ve read lately. I didn’t want to not review them, though, so here are my two cents on a variety of books!

  ~

  Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

  Publisher: Penguin
  Published: 2001
  Genre: gothic, historical fiction
  Rating: ★★★★.5
  Summary: Barcelona, 1945. Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates 11-year-old Daniel into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.

  Mini Review: What a thrilling, engrossing, captivating book. This is gothic fiction. Mystery, romance, suspense, murder, literary passions, mistaken identity, ghosts (real or otherwise), haunted homes, ancient cities, a web of secrecy. I savored every word. There were moments of greatness here, with scenes that captivated me, I could not tear away. There were other moments that could’ve had more to it — more character development or more depth — to make it absolutely perfect. But perhaps that’s what happens when a work is translated: not all of the brilliance of the original shines through. I know this is brilliant. This translator did an excellent job conveying Zafón’s story. If you haven’t read this book yet, drop everything and do so now.

  London Belongs to Us by Sarra Manning

  Publisher: Hot Key Books
  Published: June 2016
  Genre: young adult, contemporary
  Rating: ★★★
  Summary: Sunny’s always been a little bit of a pushover. But when she’s sent a picture of her boyfriend kissing another girl, she knows she’s got to act. What follows is a mad, twelve-hour dash around London – starting at 8pm in Crystal Palace (so far away from civilisation you can’t even get the Tube there) then sweeping through Camden, Shoreditch, Soho, Kensington, Notting Hill . . . and ending up at 8am in Alexandra Palace. Along the way Sunny meets a whole host of characters she never dreamed she’d have anything in common with. But as this love-letter to London shows, a city is only a sum of its parts, and really it’s the people living there who make up its life and soul. 

  Mini Review: The city of my heart! It was a fun romp of a story, racing all over the city over 12 hours. Sunny is sweet and naive, and she has her share of boyfriend troubles (in my opinion, she should’ve been angrier earlier, but that would ruin the fun of this ode to London), but I loved the way others worked with her, strangers and friends alike, to help her find the boy who wronged her. So many great neighborhoods and snippets of history, fantastic locations with interesting trivia, and all the colorful people. I laughed out loud at many points in this book, even took pictures of quotes and passages I found hilarious, poignant, and so very true to life. If you’re looking for a good, quick, light contemporary YA, this is the book for you!

   

  

  

  Blue Heron Series: The Best Man & The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins

  Publisher: Harlequin HQN
  Published: February 2013, October 2013
  Genre: contemporary, romance
  Rating: ★★★.75 and ★★★
  Summary: (1) Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she’s ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family’s vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there’s some great scenery there….Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief – and best friend of her former fiancé. There’s a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it’s not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she’s having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.

  (2) Honor Holland has just been unceremoniously rejected by her lifelong crush. And now—a mere three weeks later—Mr. Perfect is engaged to her best friend. But resilient, reliable Honor is going to pick herself up, dust herself off and get back out there… or she would if dating in Manningsport, New York, population 715, wasn’t easier said than done. Charming, handsome British professor Tom Barlow just wants to do right by his unofficial stepson, Charlie, but his visa is about to expire. Now Tom must either get a green card or leave the States—and leave Charlie behind. In a moment of impulsiveness, Honor agrees to help Tom with a marriage of convenience. But juggling a fiancé, hiding out from her former best friend and managing her job at the family vineyard isn’t easy. And as sparks start to fly between Honor and Tom, they might discover that their pretend relationship is far too perfect to be anything but true love….

  Mini Review for The Best Man: The characters felt authentic, even in the cheesy and comical bits, and there was a surprising amount of depth in the development and plot. The small town feel was so cute and quirky, and the novel was a great balance of comedy and romance. There was only one scene in particular that rubbed me the wrong way (you’ll know it when you read it), but overall this was an enjoyable read. Romance isn’t normally my go-to, but I wanted something good and light to read during the chaos. Higgins delivered, and I promise you: even though there were some romance cliches and tropes, I was still left guessing to the end how the pieces would come together.

  Mini Review for The Perfect Match: Honor and Tom are two desperate souls (heavy emphasis on desperate, because that described Honor and her talking eggs (I kid you not) to a T) for two very different reasons, but they matched each other well. It was nice to be back in this small town atmosphere, even closer to the winery than the first book. I wasn’t a huge fan of Tom as a love interest, and Honor sometimes made me want to throttle her, but when the two were together they complimented one another. Together, I could root for them. I fully plan to continue the Blue Heron series!

  ~

  Hopefully writing up another full review soon before the holidays hit! Keep reading, friends!

  .

  This qualifies as books 13 and 14 of 5 library books in 2017.

  This qualifies as book 14 of 12 in the Rock My TBR challenge.

  Posted in books, Reviews 2017, Rock My TBR | 7 Comments | Tagged books, genre: contemporary, genre: gothic, genre: historical fiction, genre: romance, mini review, review

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• Hello, I’m Laura!

  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to knit, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm obsessed with popcorn. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!

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