In New York Times bestselling author Nevada Barr’s gripping standalone, a grandmother in her 60s emerges from a mental fog to find she’s trapped in an Alzheimer’s Unit in a nursing home. How does she convince anyone that she’s not actually demented? Her relatives were the ones to commit her, all the legal papers were drawn up, the authorities are on the side of the nursing home, and even she isn’t sure she sounds completely sane.
First Line:
Rose’s head drops, jerks, and she’s awake.
What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr
My Review:
I was on the fence if I wanted to read What Rose Forgot. The blurb didn’t give me any insight into the book. What made up my mind was reading other reviews. Either people loved it, or they didn’t. I am glad that I read What Rose Forgot. It was an exciting, action-packed book.
What Rose Forgot plotline was fast. There were a couple of times where the book did lag. The author was able to get the book back on track after the first time it lagged. The second time, though, it didn’t. Weirdly enough, the lag came at almost the very end of the book.
I loved Rose!! I did wonder, for the first half of the book, if she was having issues with her memory. I did think to myself, “Does she have Alzheimer’s?” My question was answered in the second half of the book. I will say that Rose is a tough cookie, too. She took several beatings during the book that would have broken a lesser woman.
I loved Rose’s relationship with Mel. Their exchanges made me smile and added some much-needed humor into the book. I liked that Rose treated Mel with respect. She listened to what she had to say and, most importantly, she didn’t treat her like a kid. She treated her like an equal, and I loved it!!
I was saddened by how her stepsons treated Rose. Unfortunately, it is an accurate reflection of how our elderly get treated today. Put in nursing homes and forgotten about by their family.
The mystery angle of the book was wonderfully written. I thought I had everything worked out, only to have my theory thrown out the window. I wasn’t shocked at who was behind everything, though. There were some significant clues dropped throughout the book. It was the other half of what happened that surprised me.
I wasn’t a fan of the ending of What Rose Forgot. It seemed rushed to me. I can’t get into much without spoiling the ending. So, I will leave it at that.
I would give What Rose Forgot an Adult rating. There is no sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread What Rose Forgot. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
California girl Lola has her life all set up: business degree, handsome fiancé, fast track career, when suddenly, without warning, everything tragically implodes. After years fruitlessly searching for love, marriage, and children, she decides to take the radical step of seeking spirituality and meaning far outside the parameters of modern life in the insular, ultraorthodox enclave of Boro Park, Brooklyn. There, fate brings her to the dysfunctional home of newly-widowed Jacob, a devout Torah scholar, whose life is also in turmoil, and whose small children are aching for the kindness of a womanly touch.
While her mother direly predicts she is ruining her life, enslaving herself to a community that is a misogynistic religious cult, Lola’s heart tells her something far more complicated. But it is the shocking and unexpected messages of her new community itself which will finally force her into a deeper understanding of the real choices she now faces and which will ultimately decide her fate.
An Unorthodox March is a powerful and moving novel of faith, love, and acceptance, from Naomi Ragen, the international bestselling author of The Devil in Jerusalem.
First Line:
Leah Howard sat there facing Rabbi Weintraub’s empty chair, rehearsing what she was going to say to him.
An Unorthodox match by Naomi Ragen
My Review
When I got the invite to review An Unorthodox Match, I almost didn’t accept it. I do not read books that are straight, religious books, even those that are masked as women’s fiction. But the blurb caught my attention, and I decided to read An Unorthodox Match.
Having grown up in a community that was Jewish, I assumed that I knew a lot about the religion. I always knew that there was an Ultraorthodox part of the religion but knew nothing about it. Then I read An Unorthodox Match, and my mind was blown. There was so much that I didn’t know and so much that took me by surprise. It was learning about the Ultraorthodox religion that made this book for me.
I liked Lola/Leah. But I do wish that her backstory had been told better. I got a little irritated because her backstory was broken up. The author did say at the beginning of the book that Lola/Leah had been through a lot as a child and an adult. But after that, it was fragmented and drove me nuts. It wasn’t until that important scene with Yaakov at the end of the book that everything was put together in chronological order. I also thought that Lola/Leah was too lenient with Shaindele after what that twit put her through. But I will get to that in a little bit.
I liked Yaakov and felt awful for him. I guessed what had happened to his first wife early in the book. His grief and guilt came off the page. I wanted to hug him and tell him it wasn’t his fault. I liked that the author made him human. He had three children at home who he needed to take care or and provide for. He did what he had to, which included giving up his studies, to care for them. That included going to someone to help find a wife (which is done in this religion).
I do have to mention Shaindele, Yaakov’s oldest daughter because she played a massive part in Lola/Leah and Yaakov’s relationship. I didn’t like her. I found her behavior disrespectful throughout the book. I did feel bad for her. Losing her mother the way that she did and not being told the truth about how/why she died was traumatic. But it did not excuse how she treated the younger children or Lola/Leah. Which is why I was surprised that Lola/Leah talked Yaakov out of doing what he wanted to do.
I did find how hard it was for Lola/Leah to be accepted into the enclave fascinating. I had no idea that it was so hard for converts to be accepted into the Ultraorthodox enclaves. I had no clue that even if they did marry, that their children would never be accepted. The prejudices were outlined perfectly in this book. There was a point where I thought Lola/Leah was fighting a losing battle.
The romance angle of the book wasn’t up and in your face. Lola/Leah and Yaakov had to overcome a lot even to meet. But once they met, I could see the attraction. What I liked also is that there was zero sex. No kissing. Per the religion, Yaakov couldn’t even touch Lola/Leah. So kissing her was out of the question. I loved watching their romance develop without that. It was refreshing.
The end of An Unorthodox Match pulled at my heartstrings. It was a typical HEA that made me tear up. What I appreciated was that the author included a glossary with all the Jewish and Yiddish terms that were used in the book. I was getting a bit frustrated and ended up googling 90% of those terms. I wish I had known about it earlier. It would have saved me a whole lot of frustration.
I would give An Unorthodox Match an Adult rating. There is sex. There is mild language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread An Unorthodox Match. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Four destinies collide in a unique fantasy world of war and wonders, where empire is won with enchanted steel and magical animal companions fight alongside their masters in battle.
A soldier with a curse Tala lost her family to the empress’s army and has spent her life avenging them in battle. But the empress’s crimes don’t haunt her half as much as the crimes Tala has committed against the laws of magic… and her own flesh and blood.
A prince with a debt Jimuro has inherited the ashes of an empire. Now that the revolution has brought down his kingdom, he must depend on Tala to bring him home safe. But it was his army who murdered her family. Now Tala will be his redemption—or his downfall.
A detective with a grudge Xiulan is an eccentric, pipe-smoking detective who can solve any mystery—but the biggest mystery of all is her true identity. She’s a princess in disguise, and she plans to secure her throne by presenting her father with the ultimate prize: the world’s most wanted prince.
A thief with a broken heart Lee is a small-time criminal who lives by only one law: Leave them before they leave you. But when Princess Xiulan asks her to be her partner in crime—and offers her a magical animal companion as a reward—she can’t say no, and soon finds she doesn’t want to leave the princess behind.
This band of rogues and royals should all be enemies, but they unite for a common purpose: to defeat an unstoppable killer who defies the laws of magic. In this battle, they will forge unexpected bonds of friendship and love that will change their lives—and begin to change the world.
First Line:
Dimangan heard his name and came when he was called.
Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger
My Review:
I have noticed a couple of themes in the books that I have been reading lately. The first one is that I saw is the plenty of strong female characters. The second is that Japanese/Chinese based fantasy is becoming more popular. Both caught my attention when I read the blurb for Steel Crow Saga. I am happy to say that I loved Steel Crow Saga!! It was a fantastic read.
Steel Crow Saga has four separate plotlines. Usually, that would be an issue for me. I lose focus on many plotlines. But, in this book, it wasn’t an issue. The author was able to keep all four plotlines separated. I had no problem keeping them straight. I also loved that while the plotlines did get merged towards the end of the book, they were still separate.
The characters in Steel Crow Saga were well written and well fleshed out. That made the book so much more enjoyable for me to read. I did have my favorite characters in the book. I loved Lee and Xiulan, separately and together. I also did like Tala and Jimuro, but Lee and Xiulan captured my heart.
The fantasy angle of the book was amazing!! I loved how shadepacting worked. To have an animal bond that close to you must be amazing. But I also could see why it was done with only animals and not humans. I thought having the bad guy having hundreds of shades was great. I also liked that the characters could steal the shades from other people. I liked it.
Another part of the book that I loved was the LGBT representation in the book. Xiulan and Lee had feelings for each other. Jimuro’s oldest friend was a transgender man. Mang, Tala’s brother, was gay. Lee, and I believe Jimuro, were bisexual. I loved it!!
I have read reviews where this book was compared to The Last Airbender and Pokemon. I did get the Pokemon vibe while reading it but I didn’t get The Last Airbender vibe. Shrugs.
I also liked that each race was a different Asian country. China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and India were represented. Doing that added more depth to the book. There also could be more countries that I didn’t pick up on.
There was a lot of violence and death in Steel Crow Saga. It didn’t bother me (violence in books usually don’t). But some people are bothered by violence. Unfortunately, this book couldn’t be told without the violence.
Tala and Mang’s relationship was one of the saddest ones that I have read to date. My heart broke several times whenever their relationship came up. The author also explains how he became a shade. Again, talk about my poor heartbreaking. I was in tears. What Mang asked Tala to do was awful, and it shaped her for the rest of her life.
The end of Steel Crow Saga was interesting. It was interesting because while the main storylines ended, the author left room for another book. I am curious to see what will happen with Tala and Jimuro, especially after what was revealed. I am also interested to see where Lee and Xiulan’s relationship will go. Also, I want to know what will happen with the different countries now that the war is over. I can’t wait for book 2 to come out!!
I would give Steel Crow Saga an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread Steel Crow Saga. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Where you can find Rise of the Dragon: Amazon | BookBub
Book Synopsis:
Alexandria is now The Duchess of Avalon, Arthur’s wife and rightful queen. Love declared, promised kept, and title won. Her victory, however fleeting, will cost her dearly.
Avalon now faces the full force of what Mordred has planned for him and his knights. But what he doesn’t know is that one among them has a secret.
Will the person in hiding prove to be friend, enemy, or something else entirely?
And what happens when a ghost from the past resurfaces not as a friend, but as mortal enemy?
Rise of the Dragon is book five of The Legend Series based off of the Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
First Line:
Cold wind sent violent shivers down my spine as I climbed the craggy rocks.
Rise of the Dragon by Kylie C. Stewart
My Review:
I was disappointed when I saw that I had missed a book in this series. The Legend series needs to be read in order. Stress needs. Even missing one book will confuse someone. And in this case, I was left wondering what the heck happened in book 4.
Even though I missed a book in the series; it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of reading Rise of the Dragon. This book was fantastic to read.
The plotline for Rise of the Dragon was fast-moving. There were times where I had to reread parts of chapters because I felt I missed something. There was also a little lag towards the end of the book. But it was nothing that took away from the story.
I loved Alexandria in this book. She was the perfect Queen for Arthur. She also didn’t put up with anything from anyone. I loved how when Arthur went missing; she took over. And her connection with Guinevere was terrific. It wasn’t what I was expecting!!
I also loved Arthur in this book. He went to battle with Mordred knowing that he could be held captive or killed. He was a husband and a father above everything else, and it showed. Even when Mordred captured Arthur and was torturing him, Arthur still tried to reach him.
I did feel bad for Mordred, which is weird because I spent much of this series not liking him. But, there was a massive twist in his story that I didn’t see coming. Looking back, it made sense. It also made me a little mad. Even thinking about it gets me angry.
There was a twist in the story that I didn’t see coming. I thought it was great because it tied another famous work to this story. I can’t wait to read the next book and see where the author is going to take it.
The end of Rise of the Dragon was exciting. There was the twist that I mentioned. There was also another twist that took me by surprise. I can’t wait to see what will happen with that.
I would give Rise of the Dragon an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread Rise of the Dragon. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
What happens when you’re really, truly done making your marriage work? You can’t be married to someone without sometimes wanting to bash them over the head…
As Long As We Both Shall Live is JoAnn Chaney’s wicked, masterful examination of a marriage gone very wrong, a marriage with lots of secrets…
“My wife! I think she’s dead!” Matt frantically tells park rangers that he and his wife, Marie, were hiking when she fell off a cliff into the raging river below. They start a search, but they aren’t hopeful: no one could have survived that fall. It was a tragic accident.
But Matt’s first wife also died in suspicious circumstances. And when the police pull a body out of the river, they have a lot more questions for Matt.
Detectives Loren and Spengler want to know if Matt is a grieving, twice-unlucky husband or a cold-blooded murderer. They dig into the couple’s lives to see what they can unearth. And they find that love’s got teeth, it’s got claws, and once it hitches you to a person, it’s tough to rip yourself free.
So what happens when you’re done making it work?
First Line:
If you try to kill your wife without a plan, you will fail.
As Long as We Both Shall Live by JoAnn Chaney
My Review:
I have been reading a lot of psychological thrillers/mysteries and I have been getting burnt out on them. So I went into reading As Long as We Both Shall Live not wanting to read it. I am glad that I made myself read this book. It was fantastic.
There are four plotlines in As Long as We Both Shall Live. Yes, 4. When I realized that, I did an internal groan. Anything over two plotlines and I get confused. In As Long as We Both Shall Live, the author was able to keep the plotlines separate. She was also to merge the plotlines when needed. There was a little lag in the middle of the book when two of the plotlines joined. Other than that, this book zipped right along.
I loved how snarky this book was. There were points where I was dying laughing with the views on marriage. I am not married but have been in a relationship for 15 years, and I get it. That’s what made parts of this book funny to me.
Detective Loren is one of my new favorite fictional characters. I will admit, I wasn’t too sure about him when he was introduced. He was abrasive and rude to everyone. But slowly (and yes, slowly) a different side of him was shown. By the end of the book, I loved him.
The mystery angle of the book was good. The author did a great job of keeping me in the dark about what exactly happened the day Marie disappeared. She slowly let out clues about what happened. There are also so many red herrings. That is what made it enjoyable to read!!
I loved how the author brought everything together at the end of the book. The twists were what made the ending for me. I had guessed about one of them early in the book. But the other one, oh no. That took me 100% by surprise.
I would give As Long as We Both Shall Live an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread As Long as We Both Shall Live. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Gretel, er, I mean, Gabriella Salazar finds temptation and desperation to be too great and breaks into a wicked witch’s—uh, that is—a pretentious, rich woman’s condo, only to discover she’s not the only one with a B & E fetish. The twist is that the mysterious, handsome Hansel to her Gretel who has also stolen into the same apartment is anything but brotherly, and the two strangers find themselves lip-locked before the evening is over. Now Gabby and her new, aggravating accomplice must get crafty and work together to free themselves and everyone they hold dear from a mad woman’s clutches.
But breaking and entering never ends with a happily ever after…right?
Excerpt:
“Give me the tissues.”
I looked up in alarm. Oh shit, was he going to prevent me from taking anything? Why hadn’t I considered that possibility?
Probably because he’d just covered for me to his mother, and he had his own unknown ulterior motive for breaking into her house.
God, I was so stupid for blindly trusting him.
But then he opened his jacket, flashing me the insides. “I can probably hide them here.”
My mouth fell open. “You…” I shook my head. “Wait, you’re going to help me?”
He met my gaze, dead serious, no longer arrogant or sarcastic. “Why not? You worked your ass off for these.” Then he lifted one eyebrow until it arched in that snarky little bent I was becoming all-too familiar with. “Isn’t that how you put it?”
Oh, wow.
For the first time since meeting him, his acerbic manner didn’t grate on my last nerve. I just blinked at him, beginning to see a vague glimpse of the man beneath. And I realized it was all a front. He expertly hid his true self behind taunting barbs and haughty expressions. There was more to him than the asshole he tried to convince people he was.
How incredibly unusual.
He motioned toward my stolen goodies with one finger. “The tissues would be in that rectangular-shaped cardboard box right there,” he explained unnecessarily, having way too much fun talking down to me.
Damn, he was really good at playing the sarcastic jerk. Except this time, I saw the compassion behind his supercilious ruse.
“Uh…” Shaking my head to clear it because I was still discombobulated by this turn of events, I grabbed the tissues without hissing at him for his rude crack and I handed them over, murmuring, “Sorry. Here.”
He frowned at me in confusion, then tipped his head to the side as his eyes narrowed distrustfully. But even as he took the tissues, he added, “The soup too. You can probably conceal the soda in your front hoodie pouch, if it’s the only thing in there.”
He had a point. Nodding, I removed the can from my hoodie’s pocket. “Okay. Thank you.”
The thank you actually made him rear his face back in shock. This time, he refused to take the can from me, just eyed it as if I was offering him poison instead. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he hissed.
“What do you mean?” Lowering my voice, I gaped at him. “Nothing’s wrong with me.”
I thrust the chicken noodle soup at him again. Why didn’t he just take the damn can before his mother showed up in the closet too, wondering why the hell we were taking so long?
He glanced toward the opening of the closet as well before turning back to me and whispering harshly, “You’re acting weird.”
“Oh my God.” My eyebrows shot sky high. “You’ve known me five fucking minutes. How do you know what my weird is? And besides, this is frankly a weird, super unreal situation. How else am I supposed to act?”
My irritated answer, along with the scowl I sent him, seemed to settle him again. His shoulders relaxed and his features lost their alert confusion.
“Well, your compliance was at odds with the first four minutes and forty-five seconds of our association,” he explained.
Wow, he didn’t respond well to politeness at all, did he?
But compliance? Did he seriously just call me compliant? Way to make me sound like a submissive little lap poodle.
Maybe his pomposity wasn’t entirely an act after all. He was probably a genuine asshole with just a small side serving of kind.
Narrowing my eyes, I bit out from between gritted teeth, “You were helping me. I was being grateful. But don’t worry; I’m over it now.”
“Good,” he bit out. “We don’t have time for that bullshit, anyway.”
Linda writes romance fiction from YA to adult, contemporary to fantasy. Most Kage stories lean more toward the lighter, sillier side with a couple meaningful moments thrown in. Focuses more on entertainment value and emotional impact.
Published since 2010. Went through a 2-year writing correspondence class in children’s literature from The Institute of Children’s Literature. Then graduated with a Bachelors in Arts, English with an emphasis in creative fiction writing from Pittsburg State University.
Now she lives with hubby, two daughters, cat Holly, and nine cuckoo clocks in southeast Kansas, USA. Farm girl. Parents were dairy farmers. Was youngest of eight. Big family. Day job as a cataloging library assistant.
Harry Potter House Gryffindor, Patronus White Stallion, character match Hagrid. Supernatural Team Dean. Game of Thrones Team Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister. The Walking Dead Team Daryl. Outlander Team Jamie Fraser. Teen Wolf Team Stiles. Avenger Team Thor…or Hulk (can’t decide). Justice League Team Flash. Arrow Team Stephen Amell. Stranger Things obsessed. Heard Laurel, not Yanny.
Started out reading with the Baby-Sitters Club. Then moved to Sandra Brown, Linda Howard, Julie Garwood, and LaVyrle Spencer in high school. Now all over the place with her romance reading tastes.
Where you can find The Lost and the Scarred: Amazon | BookBub
Book Synopsis:
ROX When I was six, Wran Belmont found me buried in snow and gave me a place to live.
He became my best friend.
When I was fifteen, I gave him all of me—only for him to abandon me.
Now, he’s back and expecting the lost, scarred girl he’s left behind. I’m not that girl anymore. And while I may still have secrets, it will not be as easy for him to retrieve them this time around.
WRAN When I was eleven, my father lost his job and became a pathetic excuse for a father. A few months later I found Roxanna Raine buried in snow, barely hanging on to life.
Her father was the reason mine was an alcoholic, and I thought about letting her freeze to death.
One look in her eyes and she became my kryptonite. I swore I would get my revenge, though, even if it was on the fair-skinned beauty.
When I was nineteen, I left Rox without an explanation—broken-hearted and even more lost.
Now, I’m back and I’ll do anything to make up for the stolen time.
First Line:
“I’m taking her!”
The Lost and the Scarred by T. Marie Alexander
My Review:
I was excited about reading The Lost and the Scarred. I have become a massive fan of dark romances. The blurb promised that this was going to be a juicy one. And it was. I couldn’t read this book fast enough.
The plotline that highlighted Wran and Rox’s dysfunctional relationship was dark. Oh so dark and I loved it.
The plotline with Rox and Harley was interesting. It took me a while to realize what happened. I understood why Rox insisted on keeping her visits to Harley a secret. Wran would have blown a gasket.
The plotline with Rox and her father was heartbreaking. The author was cautious not to reveal too much about her years with him. I did guess at what happened to Rox after her mother’s death. There have been very few times where I wished that I could morph into a book and bring all holy hell to a character. This was one of them.
The romance between Rox and Wran didn’t seem real to me. Mainly because of how Wran acted. He was an immature, jealous idiot with an anger management problem and he took it out on Rox. So, yeah, the romance didn’t spark for me.
Josh drove me nuts. He had the power to keep Wran away from Rox. He was the freaking sheriff!! Instead, he talked and talked but didn’t do anything about it. He let Wran have his man tantrums all over the place. He even got assaulted by Wran at the police station. Which made me go “WTF.”
Cade was another person who drove me nuts in the book. He held back who he was to Rox. He went out of his way to piss Wran off. But, he did come through in the end.
The end of The Lost and the Scarred ticked me off. I didn’t agree with what Lynn did at all. Also, it was a cliffhanger. And if you have been reading my blog long enough, then you know how I feel about cliffhangers. I do need to read book 2.
I would give The Lost and the Scarred an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I am on the fence if I would reread The Lost and the Scarred. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Fangs and Frenemies: A Blue Moon Bay Cozy Mystery by Cherry Andrews (Witches with Anxiety, #1) Publication date: September 4th 2019 Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery, Paranormal
A sweet—but slightly neurotic—cupcake-baking witch.
They fight crime?
When the case of a missing mean girl throws Hazel back into contact with two old classmates, it’s time for these supernatural frenemies to set aside past grudges and help clear each other’s names.
But in the cloudy, romantic beach town of Blue Moon Bay, Oregon, it seems nearly everyone’s guarding a secret.
And they all involve magic of one kind of another.
Will these three women, who normally can’t stand each other, crack the mystery of what really happened to Hazel’s old bully, Ashlee—or is their effort cursed to fail?
Give me one name. One person. And I will make them disappear . . .
When Sarah rescues a young girl in trouble, she expects nothing in return. But her act of bravery puts a powerful and dangerous man in her debt. He lives by his own brutal code, and all debts must be repaid – in the only way he knows how.
He offers Sarah a way to solve a desperate situation with her intolerable boss. A once-in-a-lifetime deal that will make all her problems disappear.
No consequences. No comeback. No chance of being found out.
All it takes is a 29 second phone call.
Because everyone has a name to give. Don’t they?
First Line:
The Rules were simple enough.
My Review:
29 Seconds is not a book that you can put down. I found that out the hard way. When I started reading 29 Seconds, I had every intention of reading a couple of chapters and then putting the book down. Yeah, it didn’t quite work out that way. I stayed up until 2 am reading this book. 29 Seconds is that good!!
Sarah is a professor who is being sexually harassed by her superior at the university she works at. Seeing what happens to those who stand up to him, Sarah endures his touches and inappropriate comments. After an unusually stressful day at work, Sarah witnesses and thwarts an attempted kidnapping of a young girl. Her father, a brutal and powerful man, offers her a burner cell phone and the promise to take care of anything for her. All she needs to do is to make the phone call and give a name. But can Sarah do it? Can she provide the name of the one person who is making her life a living hell? Can she live with herself?
The author did a fantastic job of setting up the main storyline. But I did have a hard time believing it. If the #MeToo movement hadn’t of happened, then I could see the situations that were presented in the book happen. But still, Sarah’s stress and distress over what was happening at work were palpable. I got upset for her.
Sarah wasn’t my favorite main character, but I also didn’t dislike her. There were times where she came across as whiny. But there were also times where she showed surprising strength. I liked how she took her life back after it seemed like she hit rock bottom.
I detested Alan. He was one of the vilest characters that I have read to date. He deserved everything that he got in this book. I felt like I needed a shower after every scene he was in.
The thriller angel of the book was well written. I was kept on the edge of my bed (I was in bed reading), wondering what was going to happen next.
The end of the book was excellent. There was a twist in the plot that I saw coming. But it still surprised me when it happened. I loved what happened to Alan. Talk about justice!!!
I do want to add that Sarah’s dad was the real MVP of the book. His advice was what convinced Sarah to do what she did.
I would give 29 Seconds an Adult rating. There is sex. There is mild language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread 29 Seconds. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
The new gut-wrenching epic from the New York Times bestselling author of Sky in the Deep.
For as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.
For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power? And when their chieftain looks to Tova to cast the stones, she sets into motion a series of events that will not only change the landscape of the mainland forever but will give her something she believed she could never have again—a home.
First Line:
“Give me the child.”
The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young
My Review:
I was excited to read The Girl the Sea Gave Back. Every review I read about this book painted it as a fantastic read. So, I went into this book with high expectations. I am happy to say that The Girl the Sea Gave Back lived up to those expectations. It was a fantastic read!!
The plotline for The Girl the Sea Gave Back was interesting. Tova was found in the wreckage of a funeral boat by a Svell holy man. Recognized as a Truthtongue by she is taken to the nearby Svell village. There, she is used to read runes for the leader of the Svell. Things change for her when two rival clans merge into one. Forced to read the runes, what Tova sees will change her life. People will die, and Tova will realize that she can have the one thing that she wants the most: a home.
The plotline for The Girl the Sea Gave Back was fast-paced and well written. I have a love/hate relationship with fast-paced books. I love them because the book zips along. I don’t like them because sometimes, there are plotlines that get overlooked. Which didn’t happen here.
I loved how the author had the tribes modeled after the Vikings. The tribes weren’t exactly like the Vikings, but there were enough similarities that I had pause at points and tell myself, “This is a fantasy book. Not real life.” The two essential things that stood out to me were the Tova reading the runes and the funeral boat in the prologue.
I liked Tova and man, did I feel bad for her at points in the book. What she went through was awful. The Svell hated her because she was a KyrrTruthtongue, but they used her too. I couldn’t even imagine growing up under that type of hatred. She read the stones that told the Svell that they needed to battle Nadhir, which sets her on course to meet with Halvard. I also liked that Tova was conflicted about her rune reading. She wanted to please the leader, but at the same time, she didn’t want to cause death. I found her connection to Halvard to be interesting. I do wish that more had been explained about why she was connected to him. Something other than he was her destiny. Because I’ll tell you, it did confuse me.
The Girl the Sea Gave Back is a bloody book. There are quite a few battles between the Svell and the Nadhir. I liked that the author didn’t hold anything back when it came to describing the battles. I am not at all affected by blood and violence in a book. But some people are.
There is no romance in The Girl the Sea Gave Back. I can’t tell you all the last time I read a young adult book that didn’t have a romance. I loved it!! There was a hint of it between Tova and Halvard but it didn’t get beyond a hint.
I do wish that Tova’s background had been released sooner. I would have understood certain parts of the book better. I didn’t put two and two together until the middle of the book. And even then, it took me a while to realize who Tova was.
The Girl the Sea Gave Back is not a stand-alone book. I read it as one and was left wondering about several things mentioned in the book. Relationships and how the Nadhir were brought together were the main ones. Read Sky in the Deep before reading The Girl the Sea Gave Back.
The end of The Girl the Sea Gave Back was interesting. The way individual storylines were ended made me wonder if there will be another book in this world. I hope so because I enjoyed it. I hope that there will be more focus on the Kyrr if there is.
I would give The Girl the Sea Gave Back an Older Teen rating. There is no sex. There is no language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.
I am on the fence if I would reread The Girl the Sea Gave Back. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
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