What if you found yourself in the middle of a war armed only with lipstick and a sense of humor? Abandoned as a child in Los Angeles in 1931, dust bowl refugee Sally Brady convinces a Hollywood movie star to adopt her, and grows up to be an effervescent gossip columnist secretly satirizing Europe’s upper crust. By 1940 saucy Sally is conquering Fascist-era Rome with cheek and charm.
A good deed leaves Sally stranded in wartime Italy, brandishing a biting wit, a fake passport, and an elastic sense of right and wrong. To save her friends and find her way home through a land of besieged castles and villas, Sally must combat tragedy with comedy, tie up pompous bureaucrats in their own red tape, force the cruel to be kind, and unravel the mystery, weight, and meaning of family.
First Line:
“Don’t talk to strangers,” Daddy said when he hoisted me onto the train that moonless night back in Iowa.
Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure by Christina Lynch
Sally Brady is used to overcoming the odds. Her parents, having five children, sent Sally to California in 1931. After living on the streets for a while, Sally happens to jump into the car of a Hollywood movie star. That movie star decides to adopt Sally. When the movie star gets divorced, about five years after adopting Sally, she moves to Europe and takes Sally along. That is how Sally ended up in Italy when it closed its borders and detained any press/foreigners that remained. After helping a young Jewish girl escape, Sally is stranded in Italy. Will Sally be able to escape?
I am a sucker for a good World War II story and usually read everything I can about that war. So, when I saw that Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure was up for review, I knew I wanted to read it. And I am glad I did. This book was terrific.
Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure is a fast-paced book. The pacing of the storyline was perfect for this book. There was some lag towards the middle of the book (around when Sally was in prison), but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of this book.
Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure takes place mainly in Italy. But there are excursions to Prague,Switzerland, and the United States.
The main storyline of Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure is centered around Sally Brady and, you guessed it, her adventures in Italy (and in life). Sally was a larger-than-life character who could think fast and use her wits to keep herself alive in wartime Italy. This storyline captured and kept my attention.
The author featured two other storylines in Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure. They centered around Lapo, an Italian writer and farmer, and Alessandro, Lapo’s son and a soldier. These were the more serious of storylines, and they were the storylines that I enjoyed reading the most. The writer had Lapo and Alessandro witness the horrors of an unstable dictator and a war neither wanted to be involved in. Those two storylines were as well written as Sally’s.
The author told Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure through the 1st personPOV of Sally and the 3rd person POV of Lapo and Alessandro. Usually, I’m not too fond of it when there is more than one POV and more than one storyline. But, in this case, I liked it.
I liked Sally. The author did write her, at first, as a silly young girl who didn’t take life seriously. But, as the book went on, I saw glimpses of a more serious Sally. It wasn’t until she met Clio and helped Clio’s granddaughter escape that Sally’s true nature showed through. She was one of the bravest characters in the book.
I liked Lapo. As a parent, I understood why he did what he did. I would do anything to ensure the safety of my children too. I felt awful every time I read his chapters because I could see his prison being more and more constricted by Mussolini.
Alessandro had the most exciting storyline, in my eyes. He was anti-Fascist but had to swallow his beliefs while in the military. Alessandro couldn’t understand, at first, why Lapo was kissing Mussolini’s butt, which made him angry (I would have been too). His time in the military almost destroyed him. The scene where he finally meets Sally is pivotal because it shows how low he was.
The end of Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure was interesting. I felt awful for Sally when she finally went home to her family. Her father was a piece of freaking work, that’s for sure. There was a twist at the end of the book that surprised me. I was with Sally when I thought a certain someone had died. To have him pop up like that had me react as Sally did.
I recommend Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure to anyone over 16. There is mild language, fade to black sexual situations, and moderate to graphic violence.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Christina Lynch for allowing me to read and review Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure.
If you enjoyed reading this review of Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure, then you will enjoy these books:
Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man’s severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him – has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she did not. In order to protect each other, they must figure out who is responsible, all while staying one step ahead of the police.
Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman’s secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer.
A dark and nuanced portrait of love, loyalty, and manipulation, Speak of the Devil explores the roles in which women are cast in the lives of terrible men…and the fallout when they refuse to stay silent for one moment longer.
First Line:
Fireworks pop and fizzle in the dark sky above the city, hours before the new millennium, and Maureen watches them for a seconda before she pushed the window open and closes the curtains.
Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding
New Year’s Eve 1999—Seven women gather in a hotel room and stare in shock at a man’s head on the bed. Each woman has been involved with this man and hurt at one point in their life. And each woman denies killing him. To protect each other, they must figure out who in their group killed the man and stay one step ahead of the police. Is it the wife, the pregnant teenager, the ex-girlfriend, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, or the woman who raised him?
Speak of the Devil is a fast-paced, often confusing book. I don’t get confused while reading; I did with this. This book didn’t lag, even with all the jumping from past to present and back again. The author kept the flow going despite the plotline going back and forth in time.
Speak of the Devil takes place in the Northumbria region of Scotland. The author did a great job of painting a picture of the towns portrayed from 1964 through 1999. I also liked that she weaved the local accents into the storyline. She did it so that it didn’t take away from the book. Instead, those accents added to it.
The main storyline in Speak of the Devil revolves around Jamie and the women he has bullied, abused, and treated like poo. I will warn you all that there are numerous POVs, eight in total, and each of these POVs travels back and forth in time. I am not a big fan of multiple POVs, but the author made it work in this book. But, I did have to take notes about the different relationships, which took away from my reading pleasure.
I didn’t like Jamie, but at the same time, I did feel bad for him. He was raised by a woman who couldn’t stand him. Those scenes, towards the end of the book, hurt my heart. He might have turned out differently if he had shown a little love and compassion. Each of the seven relationships showed a different side of Jamie. But, a common theme was running through them: He had an insane desire for control and wasn’t afraid to do whatever it took to get what he wanted. He did get what he deserved in the end.
The female characters, for the most part, were well-written. They weren’t as fleshed out as they should have been. I also felt some were written as cliche (Sarah comes to mind instantly). But overall, I enjoyed reading their stories and liked that the present-day storyline had a girl power theme running through it.
The mystery angle of the book was well written. I thought the killer was someone else and was very surprised when the author made the reveal. It was not who I thought it was, and it did surprise me. Looking back, the author was very clever with her red herrings and secondary storylines pointing at one person.
The book’s thriller angle didn’t jump out and scream at me as much as I wanted it to. It was understated and took some time to build. But, once it got going, it was full force.
There was some great LGBT representation going on in the book. Three of the women were lesbians (with two being in a relationship with each other). There was quite a bit of transphobia displayed in the book. I was beyond mad for this woman for 90% of the book, and I couldn’t understand why her job was acting the way it did. Then I remembered—-it was 1999. Understand people and jobs that didn’t discriminate were few and far between.
The end of Speak of the Devil didn’t gel with me. After the murderer was revealed, the author said nothing about what was done to the killer or what happened to the woman in jail for the murder. The only storyline that the author wrapped up well was the one with Nova. The others were left open with no ending other than Jamie’s death. It irritated me. I wouldn’t say I like it when books do that. I wanted at least an epilogue to explain what happens after.
I recommend Speak of the Devil to anyone over 16. There is language, violence, and very mild sexual situations.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Rose Wilding for allowing me to read and review Speak of the Devil. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoyed reading this review of Speak of the Devil, then you will enjoy reading these books:
Lady Gemma Ashbourne seemingly has it all. She’s young, gorgeous, and rich. Her family was Anointed by the gods, blessed with incredible abilities. But underneath her glittering façade, Gemma is deeply sad. Years ago, her sister Mara was taken to the Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Her mother abandoned the family. Her father and eldest sister, Farrin—embroiled in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family—often forget Gemma exists.
Worst of all, Gemma is the only Ashbourne to possess no magic. Instead, her body fights it like poison. Constantly ill, aching with loneliness, Gemma craves love and yearns to belong.
Then she meets the devastatingly handsome Talan d’Astier. His family destroyed themselves, seduced by a demon, and Talan, the only survivor, is determined to redeem their honor. Intrigued and enchanted, Gemma proposes a bargain: She’ll help Talan navigate high society if he helps her destroy the Basks. According to popular legend, a demon called The Man With the Three-Eyed Crown is behind the families’ blood feud—slay the demon, end the feud.
But attacks on the Middlemist are increasing. The plot against the Basks quickly spirals out of control. And something immense and terrifying is awakening in Gemma, drawing her inexorably toward Talan and an all-consuming passion that could destroy her—or show her the true strength of her power at last.
First Line:
I never liked visting my sister, Mara, though I loved her so desperately that sometimes I found myself convinced the feeling was not love at all, but something much fouler: guilt, bone-crushing shame, a confused defensive reaction.
A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand
Gemma seemingly has it all: wealth, beauty, and no end in suitors (male and female). But, underneath it all, Gemma has a secret. She gets painfully ill by magic, so she is bedridden and suffers anxiety attacks. Her bright spots in her life are her visits to her sister, Mara, in the Middlemist and the parties Gemma plans. She is also bone numbingly lonely. Her father has avoided her since her mother left, and her older sister, Farrin, is embroiled in a blood feud with the Bask family. Then she meets Talan, a mysterious young man whose family has destroyed themselves in serving a demon, The Man With the Three-Eyed Crown. Gemma soon finds out that the same demon is behind her family’s blood feud and sets off to end it. As she gathers her allies and makes plans, she finds out some earth-shattering news. News that shakes her to the core and threatens to end everything. What does Gemma find out? How does it tie into her quest? Will she overcome her body’s objections to magic, or will it kill her?
A Crown of Ivy and Glass is the first book in the Middlemist series. It goes without saying that this book can be read as a standalone (it’s the first book in a series).
There are trigger warnings in A Crown of Ivy and Glass. There are a couple that I am going to list but not give an explanation because of spoilers. They are:
Suicidal Ideation:Gemma tells her best friend that she thinks her family would be better off if she kills herself. There is a reason why she mentioned this, but because of spoilers, I will not say.
Self-Harm: To deal with her panic attacks, Gemma cuts herself. She is ashamed when her best friend sees the marks and is dismayed over it.
Panic Attacks:Gemma suffers from severe panic attacks throughout the book. There is a reason behind her suffering from them, but it is given later in the book and is a huge spoiler. So, sorry!!
Chronic Illness: Gemma suffers from a chronic illness throughout the book. She cannot be around magic or magic users without getting significantly sick. She lives in pain daily.
Emotional Abuse: Spoiler, I can’t write anything here!!
Child Abuse:Talan details abuse from his parents and sisters growing up. There is another huge detail of abuse to a child, but it is a spoiler.
Death: There are references to Roses being killed patrolling. The undead that Gemma encounters later in the book (and who save her) dies while protecting Gemma. Gemma’s mother is presumed dead. Tying into the child abuse trigger, a more metaphysical death also happens.
Grief: Gemma’s father is overcome with grief when her mother leaves them. Gemma grieves over the deaths of her allies.
If any of these trigger you, then I suggest not reading this book.
The main storyline for A Crown of Ivy and Glass centers around Gemma, her illness to magic, her relationship with Talan, her family’s feud with the Basts, and Talan’s mysterious background. The author did a fantastic job of detailing how Gemma’s illness affected her life and how she lived each day in pain. It broke my heart to see how lonely she was also. Her father and Farrin were constantly pow-wowing over how to attack the Basts next, and they spent little to no time with Gemma. Actually, Farrin spent more time with Gemma than their father. It was easy to see why Gemma got so attached to Talan right from the beginning.
There were a few things that I wished the author had been more clear about right from the beginning. The first one is the blood feud with the Basts. Nothing got explained until almost the end of the book, and even then, I was a little confused about it. The other was Talan’s background. I wish, wish, wish that the author divulged his background sooner. I don’t like being strung along and thinking one thing about a character and then only finding out something different.
I was fascinated by the lore and how magic worked in this book. This book was full of lore, and I would have loved to have seen some guide at the beginning or end of the book. I also loved how the author explained how magic came to be in this universe. It was fascinating to me, and I couldn’t read enough about it.
There are several sub-storylines that added immensely to the main one. These sub-storylines filled in holes and gave explanations for things that were referenced earlier in the book.
I thought that Gemma was a very solid character. She did come across as vain and spoiled at the beginning of the book, but by the middle, the author made it clear that it wasn’t the case. She hadn’t been dealt the easiest hand in life. Her panic attacks along with her constant pain drained her. Also, her loneliness was very palpable at the beginning of the book. Her character’s growth was amazing, and I was in awe of what she did for Talan during the final battle. Actually, what they all did for him (it was a group effort).
I liked Talan, but I will admit, I was as suspicious as Gemma’s best friend. There was something about him that didn’t seem quite right. Also, there were too many deaths when he was around, and his magical ability (anempath) was almost too good to be true. I was a little grouchy when the author unveiled him, but at the same time, I got why she did it. I loved the turn she took with his character, though. I could never trust him enough to put him on the good guys’ side. It wasn’t until Gemma did what she did at the end that I finally was able to fully trust him.
There are several secondary characters that make an appearance in this book. I liked them all. As with the secondary storylines, they filled in gaps and added some extra oomph when needed. There were a couple that I would love to see more of and a couple that I could see having a relationship (Ryder and Farrin!!).
The romance angle in this book is spicy. If I hate to rate it on a scale, I would say that it is between a jalapeno and a cayenne pepper. Gemma and Talan had good sex if I am going to put it bluntly. I also liked that the author chose to have them do the dirty first and then fall in love. It messed with Gemma’s (and mine) head when it revealed Talan’s intentions. And as I stated above, I did have a hard time believing him when he finally told her his feelings.
I went through such a range of emotions during the last half of the book. I was enraged by what was revealed by Gemma’s father and Farrin’s reaction. But at the same time, everything that was revealed made sense. I wish I could say more but I can’t. There are major spoilers there, which would ruin the book if you haven’t read it.
The end of A Crown of Ivy and Glass was action-packed. There was a point where I was worried about Talan and Gemma. The author didn’t end the storyline but left it open with a hint of what to expect in book 2. I cannot wait to read book two because I hope it answers some questions that were brought up in the second half of the book.
I would recommend A Crown of Ivy and Glass to anyone over 21. There is violence, language, and explicit sexual situations. Also, see my trigger warning list.
Many thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca, NetGalley, and Claire LeGrand. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoyed reading this review of A Crown of Ivy and Glass, then you will enjoy reading these books:
As if being a woman sheriff in the West Virginia coal fields wasn’t tough enough, Mary Beth Cain’s life is complicated by the fact that the local hillbilly crime syndicate is run by her mother, Mamie. It’s an association that, along with Mary Beth’s head-busting ways, has her staring down a corruption investigation when she gets a surprise visit from Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Connelly.
Twenty years earlier, Patrick was Mary Beth’s high school sweetheart, but they broke up because Mary Beth couldn’t cut the loose ties she maintains with her villainous family. Now Patrick’s worked out a deal to wipe Mary Beth’s slate clean if she’ll just arrest her brother, Sawyer, who is the cult leader of a booming anti-government militia that’s been giving the Feds headaches. It’s an offer Mary Beth refuses until Sawyer’s followers blow up a federal courthouse and G-men start swarming into town, preparing for a siege of the commando’s compound.
Suddenly Mary Beth is tasked with trying to head off a bloody, Waco-style massacre and the question isn’t whether she should arrest her brother, but if she can do it in time.
First Line:
They started coming a week ago, roaring through Jasper Creek like some kind of Satanic cavalry charge, dressed in black leather with metal spikes and emblems of skulls and serpents and eagles and flame.
The Moonshine Messiah by Russell W. Johnson
Sherriff Mary Beth Cain is not having the best week. She is under investigation by the DoJ for corruption after an expose revealed her unorthodox and sometimes illegal policing ways. Her brother, Sawyer, is holed up in an abandoned mine and preaching about waging war on the government. Her mother, who runs the hill billy crime syndicate, is trying to work out a deal with Mary Beth regarding crime in the area. But things came to a head when Mary Beth’s former high school sweetheart, a lawyer for the DoJ, approached her with a deal. Any charges against her will go away if she can arrest her brother. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Mary Beth agrees. But, as Mary Beth starts investigating the case, she finds some discrepancies and decides to follow the trail. What she discovers changes everything but doesn’t change the fact that she needs to arrest Sawyer. What did Mary Beth uncover? Will Mary Beth be able to capture her brother?
When I agreed to review The Moonshine Messiah, I thought I would be reviewing a book that followed the generic mystery/crime genre. Let me stop you right here and tell you that this book is anything but typical. This is a twisty-turny mystery with morally gray characters that are multifaceted. To say that I enjoyed reading The Moonshine Messiah is an understatement.
The Moonshine Messiah is a fast-paced book. The pacing of this book was spot on. It would have thrown everything off if this book had slowed the pace. There was a bit of lag when Mary Beth led Sawyer through the tunnels and during the big battle scene, but it wasn’t enough to bother me.
The Moonshine Messiah is set entirely in the state of West Virginia. More importantly, the author set the book in the coal fields of West Virginia. I haven’t visited West Virginia (unless you count stopping at a rest stop while traveling to Massachusetts visiting). So, I was very much interested in how the author described that area. And to be honest, it didn’t sound much different than where I currently live, except for maybe a slightly bigger city.
The main storyline in The Moonshine Messiah centers around Mary Beth. The storyline was well-written and was supported by several secondary storylines. I didn’t feel lost or confused while reading. I knew exactly where I was and what I was dealing with (until the last few chapters when the author turned everything upside down). What I liked the most about this storyline was that the characters were morally gray. That allowed the characters more range than if the author had decided to follow the traditional good guy vs. bad guy storyline.
Mary Beth is the main character in The Moonshine Messiah. I didn’t necessarily like her and didn’t at first. But, as with all the characters in this book, she was layered, and what I saw at the beginning of the book wasn’t exactly who Mary Beth was. She was tough when she needed to be, and she did deserve that DoJ investigation. But she was also brilliant, and she used those smarts to outwit the DoJ and strike a deal with someone she probably shouldn’t have (her mother).
Patrick is the other main character that I am going to highlight here. Like Mary Beth, he was multi-layered, and like Mary Beth, I didn’t like him at first. But, unlike Mary Beth, my dislike and distrust of him stayed. There was something about him that rubbed me wrong, and I was happy that I was proven right about him in the end. But he did help Mary Beth when she needed it the most, which counts for something.
The mystery angle of The Moonshine Messiah was wonderfully written. It was your typical mystery until after Sawyer was arrested. Then, the author does something that I didn’t expect. He turns everything upside down. There were a couple of massive twists that I didn’t see coming. Both involved Mary Beth and members of her immediate family. I finished the book with my mouth hanging open; that’s how off guard I was taken. And bravo to the author for being able to do that.
As I stated above, the end of The Moonshine Messiah is twisty-turny. The author ended all of the storylines in ways that I liked (and took me by surprise). The author also left open enough at the end for there to be a book 2.
I would recommend The Moonshine Messiah to anyone over 21. There is graphic violence, sexual situations, and language.
Many thanks to Russell W. Johnson for allowing me to read and review The Moonshine Messiah. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoyed this review of The Moonshine Messiah, then you will enjoy reading these books:
Genre: Fantasy, Crime Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Horror
Trigger Warning: Rape (graphic and on-page), Attempted Rape (graphic and on-page), Depression (graphic and on-page), Alcohol (graphic and on-page), Domestic Violence (graphic and on-page). Racism (on-page),Death of parent (off-page and remembered), Drugs (graphic and on-page), Kidnapping (graphic and on-page)
Celine Bower woke the morning after her night with John feeling shock and awe, and a growing sense of isolation. She remembered the meticulous plans and instinctively knowing how to cover her tracks. There wasn’t even a spot of blood on her boots when she took them off at the end of the night. Celine knew John couldn’t see what was happening behind him as she methodically prepared to alter his wretched existence forever.
Could it really be Celine looking back into her eyes, or was it someone else that took control of her body and her thoughts?
The Celine Bower Story, Chronicle One, is one woman’s epic journey from a kind and loving veterinarian and assault survivor, to a cunning and dangerous vigilante who will not be satisfied with just taking back the night, she’s taking it all back.
First Line:
“So, what’s your name, handsome?” the woman said as she turned and smiled at John Scott with a twinkle in her eye.
The Celine Bower Story: Chronicle One by Carly Brown
Celine had just graduated veterinary college and had landed a job working at her godfather’s veterinary hospital when she was kidnapped, drugged, beaten, and gang-raped. Destroyed and unable to remember anything about the assault, she works to get her life back on track. Then one stormy night, as Celine is tending to a dog hit by a car, the veterinary hospital is hit by lightning, and because Celine is holding a scalpel, she is too. Amazingly she is uninjured, but the strike has some interesting side effects. She is strong, but more importantly, she remembers the four men who raped her. That sends her on a path of vigilante justice. Can Celine get the justice that she so badly needs to heal and that the police can’t give her? And more importantly, will Celine stop after her rapists are taken care of? Or will she deal out more of her particular brand of justice?
I was hesitant when the author approached me to read and review Celine Bower. Why? I wouldn’t say I like reading books that deal with rape, and I try to avoid them at all costs. But, after reading the blurb, I was interested in it. So, I threw out any reservations and accepted the invite. I am glad I did because this book was excellent.
There are trigger warnings in Celine Bower. I do want to warn you that the triggers are many. The author doesn’t back down or sugarcoat anything that Celine goes through. That is what made this book so good and so heartbreaking at the same time. The trigger warnings are:
Rape—Celine is gang raped towards the beginning of the book. But, while you know she was raped and who raped her, the author didn’t get graphic until almost the middle of the book. One of the rapists recounts a memory where his father raped his mother in front of him as a child.
Attempted Rape—Celine interrupts a man trying to rape a teenager. At the end of the book, someone attempts to rape another girl.
Depression—After being raped, Celine goes through a significant depression for weeks. She is brought out of her depression by her mother doing an intervention with her best friend.
Alcohol—Alcohol is enormous in this book. Celine does drink socially. Her rapists also drink socially and use alcohol to abuse women. During her rape, Celine is forced to drink a lot of beer to throw the police off. Alcohol plays a big part in Celine’s vigilante work with her rapists.
Domestic Violence—Celine is beaten while drugged up by one of her rapists. Her injuries were severe. One of the rapists has a girlfriend and daughter. He is known to beat her and other women regularly. One of the rapists witnessed his mother being beaten by his father.
Racism—A witness to Celine’s kidnapping is a Native American. The racists throw slurs at him when he decides to leave. The ringleader shows up at this guy’s apartment and threatens him with violence while throwing racial slurs at him.
Death of a parent—Celine’s father was killed when a drunk driver hit him head-on.
Drugs—Celine is drugged when her rapist (a co-worker) slips roofies into her coffee. The rapists smoke pot before, during, and after the rape.
Kidnapping—Celine is carried to a van by two of her rapists.
If any of these trigger you, I recommend not reading the book.
The Celine Bower Story: Chronicle One is a fast-paced book. The pacing of this book fits the storyline. It would have caused some lag with the plotline if it had been any slower.
The Celine Bower Story:Chronicle One takes place in Norfolk Falls. The author didn’t specify a state (and if she did, I missed it). Norfolk Falls is your typical medium-sized town, and I loved it. I could see my town (which borders small and medium-sized) in how the author wrote it.
The main storyline of The Celine Bower Story: Chronicle One centers around Celine and rape (before and after). This is a well-written storyline with so many layers. As soon as the author peeled back one layer, another appeared. The attention to detail and the author’s expression in describing everything made this book a joy. Of course, I could have done with a little less detail during the rape, but, as I stated above, I am not a huge fan of rape being the main storyline.
I both loved and feared Celine. She was a powerful person who had something horrible happen to her. There were points in the book where I wanted to step in and hug her. When she started her vigilante justice, I was on pins and needles for her and cheered for each rapist she took down.
I do want to touch on the rape investigation. I felt that the author kept it as true to life as possible and portrayed the police as realistically as well. The Sex Crimes officers had their hands tied (without suspects and DNA evidence that took forever to get in). I was upset at the questions that they had to ask Celine. Who in their right mind asks an assault victim questions like that? And when they figured out what Celine was doing, I loved how they had their back. While it wasn’t realistic, it was still awesome to read.
I disagreed with the dark fantasy/fantasy listing that the author gave this book. Nothing was pointing to fantasy until Celine got hit by lightning. And then, it was like it didn’t happen until she beat the guy who attempted to rape the fifteen-year-old toward the end of the book. I am hoping, though, that book two does delve more into that genre. From the little that the author showed, I am very interested.
The crime fiction angle was well-written. The author did a great job detailing the police’s side of Celine’s rape. It showed their frustration with having their hands tied because of the victim’s amnesia and how slow the DNA evidence was to be processed.
The horror angle of the book was well written also. The author did a fantastic job of detailing the horror of Celine’s rape. But, and this is the big thing, she also did a great job of threading horror into Celine’s vigilante work. I am not going to get into detail, but what she did to her rapists was perfect and, honestly, horrifying.
The end of The Celine Bower Story: Chronicle One was interesting. The author ended the main storyline but left enough for a second book. I cannot wait to read book 2!!
I recommend The Celine Bower Story: Chronicle One to anyone over 21. There is graphic violence, language, and graphic sexual situations. Also, see my trigger warnings.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assualt (on-page, non-graphic), Rape (on and off page, non-graphic), Drug use (on-page, semi-graphic), Suicide (off and on page, remembered, semi-graphic), Abortion (off-page, remembered, non-graphic), Infidelity (on-page, semi-graphic)
“That place has been my whole life. Everything I thought I knew about myself was constructed in those few months I spent within touching distance of the sea. Everything I am is because Alistair loved me.”
Rachel has been in love with Alistair for fifteen years. Even though she’s now married to someone else. Even though she was a teenager when they met. Even though he is twenty years older than her.
Rachel and Alistair’s summer love affair on a remote, sun-trapped Greek island has consumed her since she was seventeen, obliterating everything in its wake. But as Rachel becomes increasingly obsessed with reliving the events of so long ago, she reconnects with the other girls who were similarly drawn to life on the island, where the nights were long, the alcohol was free-flowing and everyone acted in ways they never would at home. And as she does so, dark and deeply suppressed secrets about her first love affair begin to rise to the surface, as well as the truth about her time working for an enigmatic and wealthy man, who controlled so much more than she could have ever realized.
Joining a post #MeToo discourse, The Girls of Summer grapples with themes of power, sex, and consent, as it explores the complicated nature of memory and trauma––and what it takes to reframe, and reclaim, your own story.
First Line:
It’s too hot to be outside for long. Sweat is starting to dampen my scalp, thickening in the roots of my hair and pooling in the crevices of my collarbone.
The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop
Rachel has always remembered her first love, Alistair. Having met him on a Greek island while on a summer holiday with her best friend, he took over her world. So much so that she decided to stay in Greece with him, working at a local bar and living with many other girls. But things aren’t what they seem on that island, and Rachel returns to England to pick up the pieces of her life. Fifteen years later, she is married and has returned to that Greek island with her husband to relive her past. But as Rachel reconnects with her former housemates and Alistair, she starts remembering things she suppressed. She also slowly realizes that her time in Greece wasn’t as carefree as she tells people. Can Rachel shake off her past? Will she do the right thing when asked? Or will she continue defending the man who consumed her during that Greek summer?
I was drawn to the cover when I got invited to review The Girls of Summer. The white-bleached building with a view of the ocean was stunning. Then I read the blurb and knew I needed to read this book. I had followed the #MeToo movement with interest and also kinship. Because I, too, experienced sexual harassment at a job and, when reported, was told to keep my mouth shut (FYI: I told that HR person to shove it where the sun didn’t shine and immediately quit. My mother didn’t raise someone who dealt with that crap.) I figured that this book would be something like that. What I read, instead, was something that made me angry for those girls and what was done to them.
There are trigger warnings in The Girls of Summer. They are:
Sexual Assault—Rachel is sexually assaulted by Harry, the wealthy man she works for. The sexual assault happens on a page (at his house) but is relatively nongraphic.
Rape—Rachel is raped by an American in London (at a party thrown by Alistair at Harry’s London penthouse). Her rape is semi-graphic. Keira is raped off-page in Greece at a party in Harry’s house.
Drug Use—There is recreational drug use displayed in The Girls of Summer. The girls and Rachel use pot and cocaine. Rachel and the girls are roofied while in Greece and London. They are raped while roofied. The drug use is semi-graphic.
Suicide—Keira commits suicide in Greece. The actual act of her suicide is non-graphic, but the scene where Rachel and the girls find her body isn’t. Harry commits suicide towards the end of the book. That is nongraphic. Rachel is told by Helena when she visits her.
Abortion—Rachel aborts Alistair’s child. The author doesn’t go into details, but Rachel suffers from guilt, regret, and sadness about the abortion throughout the book.
Infidelity —Rachel cheats on her husband with Alistair throughout the “Now” parts of the book. As far as I know, her husband never finds out.
If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book. I am not easily triggered and wish I had seen a trigger warning before reading.
The Girls of Summer is a medium to fast-paced book. The pacing of the book suited the storyline. There was some lag towards the end of the book. I didn’t mind it because it was the end of the book.
The Girls of Summer takes place on an unnamed island in Greece during the “Then” part of the book. The “Now” part of the book takes place in London. Both places (Greece and London) have been my personal places to visit bucket list. I have wanted to visit since forever.
The main storyline of The Girls of Summer is split into two parts, “Now” and “Then,” and both parts follow Rachel. The “Now” parts of the book follow Rachel and the downward spiral in her life. The “Then” parts of the book follow Rachel and what happened in Greece. Both parts of the book were well-written and could keep my attention. I will admit that I wasn’t initially a fan of the split storyline. But as I read the book and got to know the characters, it worked, and I liked it.
Rachel wasn’t the book’s most likable or reliable narrator. She was mean to her husband. Who leads their husband on when he wants to have a baby and thinks it’s a fertility issue (fun fact, it wasn’t)? And as soon as she got Alistair’s number, she was back in bed with him. Her husband didn’t deserve that. And when she got together with Helena, Priya, and Agnes to discuss what happened fifteen years ago? She was a colossal jerk. I have never wanted to smack an adult more than I wanted to hit Rachel in the “Now” section. Rachel, in the “Then” section, I liked her better. She was naive and thought the best of everyone. Rachel was also head over heels in love with Alistair (gag) and would do anything for him.
I wasn’t sure if I should count Alistair as a main character. But, seeing how his actions and lies influenced the Rachel of the future, I decided to include him. I hated him. He knew what was happening in Harry’s house. He helped procure the girls for him. He disgusted me, and I was stunned when he and Rachel hooked back up. I will say that he got what he deserved at the end of the book.
The secondary characters and storylines add extra depth to the main characters and storylines.
The drama angle of the book was well written. The author wrote it so well and kept it classy. It never descended into catfights. Instead, the author wrapped it in Rachel’s angst and let it fly.
The mystery angle of the book consumed me. While I knew what would happen (I guessed reasonably early in the book), it still surprised me. I was also kept on pins and needles, wondering when Rachel would get her head out of her butt and remember that things weren’t perfect in Greece.
The end of The Girls of Summer seemed rushed. The author was able to wrap everything up in a way that satisfied me as a reader. I still wasn’t a fan of Rachel, but I liked seeing where she was after the dust settled.
I recommend The Girls of Summer to anyone over 21. There is language, sexual situations, and violence. Also, see my trigger warnings list.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Katie Bishop for allowing me to read and review The Girls of Summer. All opinions expressed in this review are mine.
If you enjoyed reading this review of The Girls of Summer, then you will enjoy reading these books:
A new thriller about one man’s ice-cold malice, and one woman’s fight to reclaim her life.
Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan’s job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party—attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who’d been chatting her up at the bar—her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.
Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. “Luke” is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.
What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn’t his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan’s nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother’s home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn’t flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn’t forgotten the one who got away.
First Line
Her dreams and goals were simple and few. As a former army brat, Morgan Albright spent her childhood moving across countries and continents.
Identity by Nora Roberts
A former Army brat, Morgan had always longed to put down roots. After college, she settled in a Baltimore neighborhood, and Morgan realized her dream of putting down roots. Next on her list is saving enough money to buy a bar and successfully run it. Then she meets Luke one night at her bartending job, and her life gets turned upside down. Luke is a serial killer named Gavin, and Gavin has just killed Morgan’s best friend/roommate, stolen her car, and stolen her identity. The FBI tells Morgan that her best friend wasn’t Gavin’s type; Gavin killed Nina because she was there. His type? Morgan. On the verge of losing her house and debts racking up in her name, Morgan leaves Maryland and moves back in with her mother and grandmother in Vermont. She hopes to start over. But Gavin hasn’t forgotten Morgan. With Gavin making his way to Vermont to tie up his loose end, Morgan must be ready. Will she be able to take Gavin on? Can she protect her mother and grandmother from the evil that has infiltrated her life?
I am a huge Nora Roberts fan, and I try to read her books as they are published. So I was surprised when St. Martin’s Press invited me to review. I was planning on waiting for Identity to publish before picking it up. It wasn’t even a thought for me to download the book. I am glad that I did because this book was fantastic.
Identity is a fast-paced book that takes place in Baltimore and Vermont. The pacing of this book fits the storyline. If the author had let up on the fast pace but even a little, it would have ruined the book for me. I also liked that the book was set in Maryland and Vermont. I rarely see those states get some rep in books.
The main storyline of Identity is centered around Morgan. This storyline was believable to me. I could see this happening in real life (actually, I am sure it has happened). I was horrified for Morgan when she found Nina dead and discovered that Luke/Gavin was a serial killer. I felt awful for her when her savings was drained, her car stolen, and a loan shark sent his minions to her house. That was the point where she hit rock bottom and moved to Vermont. Her healing didn’t begin until she moved to Vermont. There she acquired a phenomenal support system, which included her employers. Her growth during this storyline was terrific.
The storyline with Gavin was creepy. He was a true psychopath. He got off on killing the women and stealing their money and identities. I enjoyed that the author showed him spiraling. He couldn’t get over that he didn’t kill Morgan, which affected him for the rest of the book. He got sloppy and made mistakes that had the Feds on him. I did feel that his storyline got a bit repetitive towards the end, and I was pleased when the author decided to have the final confrontation between him and Morgan.
There was a romance angle to Identity involving Morgan and Miles. I was a little iffy, at first, when they first hooked up. I felt that she had too much baggage for him. Plus, she was his employee, raising all sorts of red flags. The author did address this, and I liked that she did. She had Morgan and Miles talk their relationship out between themselves.
Morgan and Miles’s sexual relationship did come on suddenly for me. It took one visit to deliver cookies, which led to a house tour (the turret comments had me dying laughing), which led to them having sex. The sex scenes were not graphic. They were more of a fade-to-black type of deal, which I enjoyed.
The end of Identity had me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I loved the girl power moment that Morgan had (thanks to Jen!!). But I was also terrified for her mother and grandmother. While Gavin’s fate was given, I wish the author had given some update on him. I also loved the last chapter. Talk about getting a tear in my eye and the book coming full circle.
I recommend Identity to anyone over 21. There is violence, sexual situations, and language.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Nora Roberts for allowing me to read and review Identity. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoyed reading this review of Identity, then you will enjoy reading these books:
This powerful and moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea weaves together past and present, tracing the ripple effects of war and immigration on one child in Europe in 1938 and another in the United States in 2019.
Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler was six years old when his father disappeared during Kristallnacht—the night their family lost everything. Samuel’s mother secured a spot for him on the last Kindertransport train out of Nazi-occupied Austria to the United Kingdom, which he boarded alone, carrying nothing but a change of clothes and his violin.
Arizona, 2019. Eight decades later, Anita Diaz, a blind seven-year-old girl, and her mother board another train, fleeing looming danger in El Salvador and seeking refuge in the United States. However, their arrival coincides with the new family separation policy, and Anita finds herself alone at a camp in Nogales. She escapes through her trips to Azabahar, a magical world of the imagination she created with her sister back home.
Anita’s case is assigned to Selena Duran, a young social worker who enlists the help of a promising lawyer from one of San Francisco’s top law firms. Together they discover that Anita has another family member in the United States: Leticia Cordero, who is employed at the home of now eighty-six-year-old Samuel Adler, linking these two lives.
Spanning time and place, The Wind Knows My Name is both a testament to the sacrifices that parents make and a love letter to the children who survive the most unfathomable dangers—and never stop dreaming.
First Line:
A sense of misfortune hung in the air. From the early morning hours, a menacing breeze had swept through the streets, whistling between the buildings, forcing its way in through the cracks under doors and windows.
The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende
Samuel was six years old when his father, a doctor, disappeared during Vienna’s infamous Kristallnacht. Saved by a veteran neighbor, Samuel’s mother secured passage for him on the Kinderstransport, a train taking Jewish children out of Nazi-occupied Austria. Samuel was delivered to England and, after being bounced between a couple of foster homes, was adopted by a Quaker couple. Eighty years later, Anna Diaz, a blind seven-year-old, was captured with her mother trying to cross the border into the United States illegally. She is separated from her mother and put into a detainment camp for unaccompanied minors. Her way of dealing with the trauma of being separated from her mother and the horrors of abusive foster homes is to escape to an imaginary place called Azabahar. Samuel and Anna’s paths cross when a social worker and lawyer do pro-bono work and find that Anna has a relative in the San Fransisco area. That relative is Samuel’s housekeeper, and she has been living with Samuel since Covid shut the country down. While Anna gets settled with Samuel and Leticia, the lawyer and the social worker continue their search for Anna’s mother. Will Anna and her mother be reunited?
What attracted me to The Wind Knows My Name was the cover. That is why I wished for it to begin with. What also attracted me to this book was the plotline (which I did try to summarize in the paragraph above). I usually don’t read books that closely follow recent (think within the last 3-4 years) events but something about this book and how the blurb was written made me want to read it. I am glad I did because this book was a great read.
There are numerous trigger warnings in The Wind Knows My Name. I won’t lie and say they weren’t graphic; some triggers were. But, and I stress this, the ones that involved children, the author only did the bare bones. She explained enough for me to get the gist of what was happening and then left it. The triggers are:
Confinement (non-graphic, on page):Anna was confined to a center where the border patrol agents took unaccompanied minors after they were captured crossing the border. Samuel and Leticia were limited to the house during the pandemic.
Death (mostlynon-graphic, on page): Death was a running theme throughout the book.
Genocide (slightly graphic, on page): Samuel escaped Nazi Austria and discovers his mother and father died in concentration camps. Leticia and her father, by pure luck, escape their village in El Salvador, being decimated by rebels.
Racism (graphic, on page):Samuel and Anna experience racism during the book.
Sexual Violence (non-graphic, on page): Both Anna and her mother experience sexual violence towards them during the book.
Xenophobia (mostly non-graphic, on page): Anna and her mother experience xenophobia while trying to cross the border. Anna experiences it while living in foster homes. Leticia experienced it growing up in the United States.
Trafficking (mentioned, off-page): One of the villains worked for a human trafficker.
Grief (graphic, on page):Samuel experiences grief over his parents’ deaths and when he is forced to leave his mother. He also grieves over his wife’s death. Anna mourns the death of her sister, her mother leaving, and leaving her grandmother in El Salvador. Leticia grieves the death of her mother, siblings, and grandmother. Leticia’s father grieves for his lost family.
Death of parent (s) (non-graphic, on page):Samuel’s mother and father were killed in concentration camps. Anna’s father was killed when she was very young. Leticia’s mother, grandmother, and siblings were killed.
Forced Abandonment (graphic, on page): Samuels’ mother sent him away to England. Anna’s mother was forced to leave Anna at the detention center.
Deportation (graphic, on page): There are several scenes where immigrants were forcibly deported. Anna’s mother was deported to Mexico without her.
War (semi-graphic, on page):Samuel survived World War II. Leticia’s village was decimated during a civil war in El Salvador.
Child Abuse (semi-graphic, on page):Anna is forced to do her foster mother’s chores. She was verbally abused when she wet the bed. In one scene, she was locked in a closet for hours, only to be taken out by her social worker. A foster father attempted to abuse Anna sexually.
Child Death (nongraphic, off-page): Anna’s younger sister was killed in an accident that caused Anna to go blind.
Pedophilia (semi-graphic, on and off page):Anna and her mother were chased by a man who wanted to molest Anna. He had forced Anna to touch him once. Anna’s foster father attempted to molest her.
Stalking (non-graphic and off page): A corrupt ex-police officer stalked Anna and her mother in El Salvador. He stalked them to the United States border.
If any of these trigger you, I suggest not reading the book.
There are four plotlines in The Wind Knows My Name. When I figured that out, I was a little wary. In my experience, books with more than one plotline confuse the everliving out of me. I am happy to say that this book did not. The author marked the chapters, stating whose plotline it was and, in some cases, where in time that person was.
The first plotline centered around Samuel. It starts when he is six, and his world implodes during Kristallnacht. The plotline isn’t linear; it does jump around from past to present quite a bit. But, and I stress this, I was not confused or couldn’t figure out where in time it was. Samuel’s singular plotline ends when Leticia and then Anna move in.
The second plotline centers around Leticia. Now, this was a linear plotline, and it follows Leticia from a young girl recovering from ulcer surgery to her growing up in the United States. It details her rebellious youth and how that shaped her into the woman she grew into. Her singular storyline ends when she moves in with Samuel.
The third plotline centers around Selina and Frank. This plotline starts in the middle of the book. But it goes into Selina’s immigrant background and Frank’s white privilege background. This storyline intermingles with Samuel, Leticia, and Anna throughout the book.
The fourth storyline centers around Anna. This is a linear storyline and is told through Anna’s POV. Anna’s storyline details her horrific journey to the United States border and her horrible experiences in foster care/detention. I do want to note that her storyline is also in 2nd person. She is talking to her dead sister through her doll, and it is freaking heartbreaking.
Several secondary storylines flow throughout the book. The main secondary storyline was about Anna’s mother and where she could be. I was heartbroken by the way it ended. I did expect it to end the way it did, but at the same time, I was hoping it wouldn’t.
The characters in The Wind Knows My Name was well-written and well-fleshed out. Even the secondary characters had depth to them. The characters, along with the storyline, made this book.
When I realized that this book would take place during the pandemic (and I realized it fairly early in the book), I did almost DNF it. I did not want to read about the pandemic because I lived it. But the pandemic took a backseat to Anna’s story. But Anna’s storyline was so compelling that I chose to overlook that. I am glad that I did because this book was fantastic.
Immigration was a massive point in this book. The author didn’t sugarcoat what the border was like in 2019/2020 or how overwhelmed the agents were. Instead, she gave a good look into the chaos. And when Covid hit, the chaos just grew. There were some references to the political atmosphere during that time, and you know what? I agreed with what the author wrote. I never agreed with separating families; the author’s details were chilling when she wrote about that.
I liked Samuel, but he did not have it easy in life. I thought his being raised by Quakers was fascinating and wished that more detail had gone into his life with them. His traumatic past was why he was so attracted to Nadine and kept returning to her. Their relationship was exciting and different. The author could have written a whole book could have been written about that alone. Samuel, later on in life, was a better person than when he was younger. He was willing to do whatever it took to help Anna overcome her traumatic past. He was a gem, and I enjoyed his character.
I only got to know Leticia once the author explored her background. It was then that I started to understand her. She was like Anna in a way. She had lost her entire family in a rebel attack that wiped out her village, and she crossed the border illegally (with her father). Her reaction to being Anna’s only relative in America was spot on. But she had a big heart and couldn’t let that little girl stay in foster care. She was one of my favorite people in this book.
I loved Anna and was so mad for her throughout the book. Time and time again, she was let down by the adults in her life. I wanted to reach through the book, hug her, and tell her it would be alright. By the time she arrived at Leticia and Samuel’s house, she wasn’t the same girl she was at the beginning of the book. But, her time with Leticia and Samuel did heal her. She acted like a normal child instead of the withdrawn fearful child she was when she arrived.
The end of The Wind Knows My Name didn’t shock me. I figured it would end the way it did. I did like that Anna got her HEA, though. She deserved it after everything she had been through.
I recommend The Wind Knows My Name to anyone over 21. There is language, violence, and mild sexual situations. Also, see my trigger warning list.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books, NetGalley, and Isabel Allende for allowing me to read and review The Wind Knows My Name. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoyed reading this review of The Wind Knows My Name, then you will enjoy reading these books:
The cold, stark but beautiful Si’Empra island is dying … Ellen doesn’t think she can help but others believe she’s their only hope.
Ellen’s trained to be the next ruler but her brother’s taken the throne. He’s fiercely determined to possess her body and soul … and she’s horrified. She runs away, aiming to lead a peaceful life far from the clutches of power. But the people or Si’Empra are struggling to survive, their unique societies pitched against one another. Cryptals are key to the land’s survival and subtly nudge Ellen towards healing Si’Empra’s wounds. Duty runs deep in Ellen’s veins. The question is whether reluctance or duty will triumph. In this first book of the Si’Empra series, Ellen tinkers at the margins with challenge, gaining unexpected allies and dangerous enemies.
Get your copy of Skyseeker’s Princess today and dive into the extraordinary world of Si’Empra.
First Line:
The sun was at noon by the time Ellen felt strong enough to crawl to the river for a wash.
Skyseeker’s Princess by Miriam Verbeek
Ellen has dared to escape from her abusive older brother and ruler of Si’Empra Island. Running away was her solution to her situation. But it wasn’t. Her people were suffering, and the island’s native creatures, the Cryptals, were being hunted to almost extinction. It is the Cryptals who save Ellen, and it is the Cryptals who start pushing Ellen toward healing Si’Empra’s wounds. But the question is, will Ellen do it? Or will she ignore what the Cryptals, the Crystalweavers, and the WebCleaners have told her? Can she save Si’Empra from her brother?
When the publisher approached me to read and review Skyseeker’s Princess, I immediately accepted. I was intrigued by the blurb, and I like the cover. I figured the storyline could, too, if both could catch my attention. And it did. I couldn’t put this book down!!!
There are trigger warnings in Skyseeker’s Princess. I will warn that these triggers can be more triggering to people than usual. The author did a great job describing what happened to Ellen without going into much detail.
The triggers are:
Incest (off-page and remembered): Ellen’s mother married her stepson to keep him from touching Ellen. After Ellen’s mother died when she was fourteen, Redel started raping Ellen.
Sexual abuse (off-page and remembered):Ellen was being sexually abused by Redel when her mother stepped in and married him. When her mother died, Redel upped the sexual abuse to rape. There were also vague worries that Redel was sexually abusing his four-year-old daughter.
Rape (off-page and remembered):Ellen was raped repeatedly for years by Redel. Muther (Richard’s mother) was raped after her mutilation and gave birth to Richard.
Depression (off-page and remembered): Ellen suffered from depression while being raped by Redel.
Grief (on-page, off-page, and remembered):Ellen grieves the loss of her mother and father throughout the book. Ellen’s grandmother remembers grieving for her daughter and grieving for Ellen’s lost innocence. Ellen grieves for the lower caste people, and Cryptals hunted like animals by Redel.
Assault ending in mutilation (off-page and remembered): Muther, a high-ranking official in the King’s court, was attacked on a beach. Somebody gouged her eyes out and cut off her hands and feet.
Mental Illness (on-page): One of Redel’s advisor’s wife is mentally ill. She hears voices and sees imaginary people. Redel is mentally ill. He suffers from what I believe is hyperreligiosity and OCD.
Gun Violence (on-page): Guns are used throughout the book to kill Cryptals, Crystalweavers, and Webcleaners. One memorable scene is where Redel goes into the tunnels and massacres the people living there with semi-automatic weapons. Ellen is shot several times by Redel’s supporters while traveling through the wooded areas.
If any of these triggers you, I recommend not reading the book.
Skyseeker’s Princess is a medium-paced book that got off to a slow start. While I’m not too fond of slow starts, in this case, it worked. The author laid out Ellen’s backstory and some of the history of Si’Empra Island. The pacing does pick up towards the end of the book, but it never goes fast enough to confuse me or make me backtrack.
Skyseeker’s Princess is set on a fictional island off the coast of Antarctica. From the descriptions, it is closer to New Zealand than Chile, but I could be wrong. I was fascinated by the island and its geography. There were forests, lakes, rivers, and intricate cave systems. The author didn’t cover half of what this island offers.
The main storyline of Skyseeker’s Princess centers around Ellen. Ellen’s journey to self-acceptance and healing was heartbreaking and unforgettable. I got why she didn’t initially want to help the Crystalmakers or the Cryptals. But once she saw what her brother was doing, she decided to help. The turning point for her was two things. One is the over-taxation of villages and Redel’s horrific attack on the Crystalmakers. Ellen realized that she couldn’t just stand by and let her people starve, and she couldn’t let innocent people be slaughtered. That was when she turned into a leader in my eyes.
I liked Ellen. While I did feel horror (for what was done to her) and pity, the fact that she overcame that was amazing. I understood why she didn’t want to help anyone at first. People just stood by or turned the other way when Redel was raping her. But Ellen was a good person who didn’t let other people get hurt. A reasonable person also fights for people being oppressed. By the end of the book, I loved her. She was indeed the ruler Si’Empra needed, not her abuser of a brother.
As much as I despised Redel, I found the chapters from his perspective very interesting. He was obsessed with Ellen. His obsession then turned to religion. I could see his slide into madness every time the author returned to his POV. What got me was that this small, tiny piece of him knew what he was doing was wrong. But the mentally ill part of him drowned that part of him out. I am very interested to see what he will do in book 2.
The Cryptals, as did the lore that sprung up around them, fascinated me. There were no descriptions of what they looked like, except that they looked like wild animals. They were the ones that initially saved Ellen at the beginning of the book. They were also the ones that gave Ellen her pet dinosaur, Rosa.
I wish there were a glossary at the book’s beginning or end. There was so much lore that I couldn’t keep track of it all.
The end of Skyseeker’s Princess ended on a cliffhanger. I wouldn’t say I like cliffhangers. They irritate me and make me want to throw things. But, in this case, it did its job. I need to read book 2 to see what Ellen will do. Plus, there was a neat reveal about Muther’s identity, too, which makes me wonder if she will be a more prominent presence in book 2.
I would recommend Skyseeker’s Princess to anyone over 21. There is mild language, violence, and nongraphic sexual situations. Also, see my trigger warning list.
Many thanks to Miriam Verbeek for allowing me to read and review Skyseeker’s Princess. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
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A relatable and nerve-wracking, sympathetic and bone-chilling story — a fresh new twist on motherhood and murder in suburbia.
Isolated. Lonely. Tired. It’s hard being The New Mother. Sometimes it’s murder.
Nothing is simple about being a new mom alone in a new house, especially when your baby is collicky. Natalie Fanning loves her son unconditionally, but being a mother was not all she wanted to be.
Enter Paul, the neighbor.
Paul provides the lifeline she needs in what feels like the most desperate of times. When Paul is helping with Oliver, calmed by his reassuring, steady presence, Nat feels like she can finally rest.
But Paul wants something in return. It’s no coincidence that he has befriended Nat—she is the perfect pawn for his own plan. Will Nat wake up in time to see it?
First Line:
It wasn’t the sort of neighborhood for murder. It was exactly th sort of neighborhood that is comprised the majority of Patuxent County.
The New Mother by Nora Murphy
Natalie is having a hard time adjusting to motherhood. She can’t sleep because Oliver, her son, only wants her and screams if anyone else touches him. Then she meets her next-door neighbor, Paul, and he seems to have the magic touch with Oliver. Soon, they have a close friendship. But things are different from what they seem with Paul. His befriending Natalie wasn’t a coincidence. Paul is setting Natalie up for a crime he committed. What crime did Paul commit? Will Natalie take the fall for it?
Reading this book took me back to my seventeen-year-old daughter’s birth and the months shortly after. I thought I was prepared for her birth and everything after. I wasn’t. I dealt with a horrible birth experience and a newborn/infant who screamed constantly. Unlike Natalie, I thankfully had my family and friends that watched out for PPD. But it was challenging and draining. And, like Natalie, it was a sense of relief when I got answers for why my daughter (Miss B) screamed all the time. She had colic and went nine months with an undiagnosed milk allergy. It took me switching doctors to get that diagnosis. So, yes, I related to this book.
The New Mother is a fast-paced book with dual points of view. The points of view went between the first person (Natalie) and 3rd person (Paul). I wasn’t a massive fan of that, I wouldn’t say I like it when it changes POV, but I did like that I got to see how Paul formulated his plan and how Natalie figured out what he was doing. The pacing for this book fits it perfectly.
The storyline for The New Mother was interesting. It centers around Natalie and her life after having Oliver. Natalie was one of those Facebook-perfect mothers at the beginning of The New Mother. She was going to do everything organic, exclusively breastfeeding and babywearing. I did get a good giggle at how the author initially wrote her. But Oliver wasn’t your typical baby. He had colic and screamed all the time. He hated the sling. And breastfeeding was an awful experience for Natalie. Plus, she started getting depressed and not allowing anyone to hold Oliver but her. In the middle of the book, Natalie is having a rough time. Then Paul swoops in like an angel and helps Natalie. She can sleep and feel like she is her old self around him. But Paul, well, his friendship with Natalie had sinister motives, and the author clarified those motives around the time their friendship deepened. I did call what happened next and everything else after.
As I said above, Natalie was a Facebook-perfect mother. She was one of those mothers who did everything perfectly. I was rolling my eyes whenever she yelled at her husband for bringing nonorganic food into the house. The scene where he bought the swing was a perfect example also. But at the same time, I did feel bad for her. She was struggling. Breastfeeding was hard for her, and she wasn’t expecting it to be painful. Oliver was a difficult baby, and she made it worse by holding him constantly. I called because she had PPD long before it was mentioned in the book. Natalie also wasn’t sleeping, and it was starting to mess with her. I was also a little irritated that no one, mainly her husband, caught on that she was depressed. It was so obvious (well, to me, it was). And it made it easy for Paul to prey on her.
I didn’t like Paul from the beginning. I have nothing against stay-at-home dads (actually, it’s excellent), but how he became one was awful. He had nothing nice to say about his wife, and that was a huge red flag to me when he started bad-mouthing her to Natalie. He just got skeevier and skeevier as the book went on. Poor Natalie didn’t know which end was up with him. The night of the Halloween party and the confrontation after were his doing. He was just a nasty man who did get what was coming to him.
I found the thriller/suspense angle of The New Mother interesting. I liked that the author kept the bad guy (Paul) first and foremost in the book. I loved that I got to see the planning that he did to frame Natalie. Some of it was genius. But, at the same time, I loved it when Natalie figured out what was happening and how she turned everything around on Paul.
The end of The New Mother didn’t quite gel with the rest of the book. The author fast-forwarded a few months and then explained what was happening. I wish that she hadn’t done that. I would have loved to see what she explained written out. I was left feeling meh about it. There was a humorous part of the ending where Natalie’s husband asked if they could have another baby, and she was like, “No, I’ll kill you.” I thought, “You’re having another one, lady.” I said the same thing after Miss B turned one, and then I went on to have two more children.
I would recommend The New Mother to anyone over 21. There is language, violence, and nongraphic sexual situations.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Nora Murphy for allowing me to read and review The New Mother. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
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