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Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie – Review

Bone ​Criers have a sacred duty. They alone can keep the dead from preying on the living. But their power to ferry the spirits of the dead into goddess Elara’s Night Heavens or Tyrus’s Underworld comes from sacrifice. The gods demand a promise of dedication. And that promise comes at the cost of the Bone Criers’ one true love.

Ailesse has been prepared since birth to become the matriarch of the Bone Criers, a mysterious famille of women who use strengths drawn from animal bones to ferry dead souls. But first she must complete her rite of passage and kill the boy she’s also destined to love.

Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. Yet when he finally captures one, his vengeance will have to wait. Ailesse’s ritual has begun and now their fates are entwined—in life and in death.

Sabine has never had the stomach for the Bone Criers’ work. But when her best friend Ailesse is taken captive, Sabine will do whatever it takes to save her, even if it means defying their traditions—and their matriarch—to break the bond between Ailesse and Bastien. Before they all die.

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Thank you so much to Edelweiss for this ARC! I fall head over heels for any kind of new and exciting lore that I’m presented with, and Bone Crier’s Moon is rich with it! The synopsis was unlike anything I had ever read before, and the cover itself was the final blow. I knew I needed to read it and read it now. It is an unrelenting adventure, and I’m so excited to see that it’s the first in a series, because by the end I was praying to stay in the world just a little bit longer. Between the three different POVs, we learned so much about the magical side but also the mundane, and it made the story that much more fleshed out and true.

We follow Sabine, Ailesse, and Bastien. Sabine and Ailesse are Bone Criers, women tasked with the monstrous effort of ferrying the dead to the afterlife. Their leader, the matrone, plays a siren song on a bone flute to summon both good (Unchained) and bad (Chained) spirits on a new moon, and the Bone Criers push them towards Elara’s Paradise or Tyrus’ Underworld. In order to prove that they are ready for such a task, each Bone Crier must select three animals to hunt and subsequently take one of their bones to forge into jewelry of sorts to give the girl their ‘grace’. This gives them advantages that the animal enjoys in life: strength for a wolf, vision for a hawk, etc. Once they have all three, they may lure their true love, amoire, with the same bone flute that is used for the ferrying. They have the choice to live with them a year and produce an heir or to kill them on the spot. 

Once an amoire is lured, their path is set. If they are not killed within a year, they and the Bone Crier will die. If the Bone Crier is killed, so will they be, and vice versa. It’s a very serious ritual, and it’s one that the normal human population has spun into myth. There are those that have seen too much, though, like Bastien. Bastien watched his father die at the hands of a Bone Crier, and promised revenge. He snuck up on Ailesse as she was doing her ritual, fully intending to kill her, but actually set in motion a series of misfortunes that would lead to the destruction of the bone flute and the unraveling of the Bone Criers. Sabine, Aliesse’s best friend, is caught in the aftermath. She only has one grace bone but loves her friend more than life, and will do anything to save her.

I really loved the grace aspect of the story, and I related with Sabine in that I don’t think that I would be able to steal an animal’s life to add to my own. Her salamander bone that was bathed in tears as she strung it onto a necklace gripped my heart and cleaved it in two as I listened to how low it made her feel. Not just that she killed the animal, but that even with this tiniest of graces that allowed her agility, she felt like she didn’t belong among her own people. I very much doubt I would ever make it to the ‘killing my lover’ stage, but the ferrying is a truly huge deal that does need someone to do it. If the dead aren’t pushed toward the afterlife, the Unchained will amble about, stealing the life forces (Light) of living humans. So, it’s not to be said that the life of a Bone Crier is easy, but they are essential.

The exploration of different kinds of love was so wonderful. We have the most beautiful friendship between Sabine and Ailesse, which keeps both of them going even as the road gets tough. They always have each other’s backs, and this was another moment where I saw myself in Sabine: she was hesitant to do anything for herself, but once Ailesse needed help, she never looked back on any of her decisions. She summoned the courage when it was truly needed. The bond between Bastien and Ailesse was almost unfathomable, and we love an enemies to lovers tale. It was a shake of the fist to fate, and a constant struggle for the two to love who they wanted. We also were met with an unsatisfactory mother figure in the matrone, who treated Ailesse like gum on the bottom of her shoe, and a dangerous tie to the gods (who are such an exquisite melding of Greek and Christian beliefs) that threatens to bring the Bone Criers to their knees if they’re not careful.

The amount of care and detail put in to the background of this fierce female tribe is awe-inspiring. I also loved how the Bone Criers weren’t the only strong characters; Bastien was a force to be reckoned with, but his two friends, Marcel and Jules, were vital to the story as well. Marcel has an intelligent mind and a kind soul, and Jules a fighting spirit and a giant heart. It shows us that you don’t have to be descended from a powerful bloodline or chosen by the gods to be strong and valuable. Everyone has their own strength and their own power. I loved the book, and the ending left off in such a perfect spot that I am incredibly thirsty for the next installment!

5/5 stars

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Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz – Review

Bestselling author Laurie Faria Stolarz returns with Jane Anonymous, a gripping tale of a seventeen-year-old girl’s kidnapping and her struggle to fit back into her life after she escapes.

Then, “Jane” was just your typical 17-year-old in a typical New England suburb getting ready to start her senior year. She had a part-time job she enjoyed, an awesome best friend, overbearing but loving parents, and a crush on a boy who was taking her to see her favorite band. She never would’ve imagined that in her town where nothing ever happens, a series of small coincidences would lead to a devastating turn of events that would forever change her life.

Now, it’s been three months since “Jane” escaped captivity and returned home. Three months of being that girl who was kidnapped, the girl who was held by a “monster.” Three months of writing down everything she remembered from those seven months locked up in that stark white room. But, what if everything you thought you knew―everything you thought you experienced―turned out to be a lie?

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Thank you so much to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book! I have loved Laurie Faria Stolarz since high school, when I picked up ‘Blue is for Nightmares’ on a whim, and was utterly and completely charmed by her knack for writing supernatural stories with an undeniable aftertaste of horror. To say I was excited to pick something up of hers again was an understatement. It felt like coming home to be wrapped in her words and the worlds she so effortlessly creates. I can happily say she has not lost her touch, and that this book stands up well to the rest of her works!

Jane greets us at the beginning of the book, and she is speaking directly to the ‘Reader’. It felt so much like a real preface authors sometimes include in their books that I actually started to ask myself if Laurie had been kidnapped and was writing her story down. I quickly realized that it was only Jane, who, in an effort to keep her identity from the prying eyes of the world, changed all the names and places in the story. She became Jane Anonymous, letting us in to her broken mind. The book is told in chapters of Then and Now, separated as memories come back to present Jane, recounting her seven months locked away by a faceless monster.

I love supernatural tales and horror, but nothing is scarier than things that could conceivably happen. Jane is accosted by a man she doesn’t recognize, who takes her by surprise and transports her via the trunk of his car to an unknown location. Once there, she is locked in a small room filled with her favorite food and supplies, and clothes that are just her size. She hears unspeakable things but is left alone the majority of the time. She rebels for a long time; not eating or showering and contemplating ways to escape, but after encountering another captive, she sees a ray of hope and decides to play the game.

What follows is Jane’s complete unraveling, as should be expected from anyone in this situation. She is torn from her home and her life, and once she returns (which I won’t spoil the HOW on this one!) it seems impossible for her to pick back up where she left off. It is so heartbreaking to read how she sleeps in her closet to feel safe, how she distances herself from her best friend, and how her parents are at their breaking point trying to figure out how to ‘fix’ her. It is a striking display of guilt on everyone’s part, as you never think about the little decisions you make until something goes horribly wrong. The way her parents, friends, and curious onlookers respond to her is so diverse and takes my breath away. You really see each of their personalities in how they treat Jane. One of the things I related to most was how Jane took all this pain and guilt on herself. She felt as though it was her fault that she got captured, and that her whole sleepy town in New England State seemed to freeze until her return.

Laurie did such an amazing job of exploring trauma, and of how finding the perfect therapist for you is so important. The memoir writing style kept the stakes high, and my heart was in my throat as I was reading. Jane’s body survived, but the girl she was the day she was kidnapped died, and it was so incredibly uplifting to watch her slowly reinvent herself and carve her own path through this new and terrifying world she finds herself in. It’s a battle cry to the lost and the wounded, letting them know that they don’t have to tell their story right now, but in time, opening their heart even more could stitch the hole for good. It’s an addicting read, and I flew through it in one sitting! I couldn’t leave one bit of Jane’s story unread!

5/5 stars

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SLAY by Brittney Morris – Review

By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the “downfall of the Black man.”

But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for “anti-white discrimination.”

Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?

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I have been so excited for this book because Ready Player One is one of my favorite novels, and the fact that this was pitched as that meets Black Panther had me on the floor with anticipation! I was so ready to disappear into the virtual world that Kiera had created, and to see the life that Brittney had given her characters up close and personal. From the synopsis alone, I was hooked, and this story definitely delivered. You get two very different universes, and Brittney does an amazing job separating the two and also making them both intriguing and real in their own way. There are also times when the POV switches to other important characters in the book, and they all have their own distinct voices and are so vital for seeing the world outside of Kiera’s bubble.

We start out the novel with Kiera, who is struggling with her secret that she has created a hit VR RPG game called SLAY. This game celebrates black excellence and gives people of color a safe space to game without having to worry about being harassed. The game allows anyone with code to enter the game, create their character, collect items or cards or coins, and duel each other. These duels consist of the two players getting six cards at random from their collection: two Hex cards, two Battle cards, and two Defense cards. These cards are all based off of something from black culture: Black Love, J’s, Satchmo, etc. It’s such an amazing concept, kind of Dungeons and Dragons meets Yu-Gi-Oh! in a way. I would love to see it in real life, because it sounds beautiful and so much fun. Kiera and her friend, Cicada (her username in the game), have put hours and hours into creating the cards and paying artists to make the landscapes, and through all of it have formed a beautiful friendship despite never having met.

Kiera also has some great friends outside of the game, including her sister Steph and her schoolmate, Harper. She is torn about her boyfriend Malcolm, who she loves but doesn’t feel he could ever understand how much her game means to her. She also runs across Wyatt, who, like Harper, is white, and is ignorant to how insensitive his words can be. It’s something that Kiera has to deal with every day in her predominately white school, which makes going home to SLAY even sweeter. Between all of these people and her parents, Kiera feels like she’s leading a double life, and when a young black man is killed because of an altercation spurred by the game, SLAY and Kiera’s character, Emerald, go under a microscope for the world to see. A dialogue is started the world over asking if the game itself is dangerous or even racist. Kiera is distraught, hearing people around her speak candidly about her game, and it’s not all good things.

A troll shows up in the game and makes Kiera worry about a possible lawsuit. The troll itself has chosen to create its online persona to look like a white supremacist, which terrifies and infuriates Kiera, and brings the world of SLAY together to defeat it. Kiera lays her game and her identity on the line as she sets a wager that could make or break SLAY. It’s such an exciting ride from start to finish, and we see the game from several points of view that shows you just how important it is to this community, from a mixed girl in Paris to a doctor seeing the game through the eyes of his two nephews. It was eye-opening for me especially, because this experience is something that I could never know or truly understand. It’s going to be such a hard hitting book for people of all ages and races, and hopefully give some insight to those that truly need it about why spaces like this are so important for people of color. What a triumph of a novel.

5/5 stars

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Violet by Scott Thomas – Review

In the lineage of Peter Straub’s Julia, Scott Thomas’ Violet is the disturbing tale of a woman haunted by her long-abandoned imaginary friend.

For many children, the summer of 1988 was filled with sunshine and laughter. But for ten-year-old Kris Barlow, it was her chance to say goodbye to her dying mother. 

Three decades later, loss returns—her husband killed in a car accident. And so, Kris goes home to the place where she first knew pain—to that summer house overlooking the crystal waters of Lost Lake. It’s there that Kris and her eight-year-old daughter will make a stand against grief. 

But a shadow has fallen over the quiet lake town of Pacington, Kansas. Beneath its surface, an evil has grown—and inside that home where Kris Barlow last saw her mother, an old friend awaits her return.

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Thank you so much to NetGalley for this creepy and engrossing read! The spooky season is drawing near, and although I can’t feel the chill in the air just yet, this novel brought a chill to my bones that only October can bring. I’ve been needing a truly scary book to read, and I found my match! Imaginary friends, a distant and sleepy town, and a sadness that permeates every written word draws you closer and closer to these characters and the mystery that longs to drag them down into the depths of River’s End.

We are introduced to Kris, who is no stranger to tragedy. Her mother was taken from her by cancer at a young age, and now that she is grown, she has found herself in that weightless void of despair once again after the gruesome death of her husband. She wants to take her daughter away and hopes that some time in her childhood summer home will alleviate her grief. She has so many happy memories there, despite the fact that her mother died within its walls. Once they get to the house, however, it has drastically changed since the last time she saw it. It has been left to rot, and the house smells of decay and disuse.

Kris does not let this deter her, and in a moment of genius decides that cleaning up the house with Sadie will clean their minds as well. From that night forward, Sadie shows signs of improvements. She’s talking more, eating, and even singing. Kris is elated until her own grief starts to swallow her sanity. She starts to remember snapshots of herself as a child, Krissy was what she was called then, and she slowly sees that maybe she wasn’t happy at all, and that maybe there is a darkness to this house that is begging for her attention through Sadie. 

Kris falls down a rabbit hole of unsolved murders of young girls, and struggles to piece this information together with the memories she is uncovering. Sadie’s condition deteriorates before her eyes, and when she starts to question things that Kris never told her, the false illusion of hope falls away almost instantly. There may have been someone that she left behind in her childhood that has been trying to replace her all this time, just as Kris replaced them with a normal life. I don’t want to spoil anything, but rest assured, you will feel phantom fingers on your cheek and a disembodied breath on your neck for an immeasurable amount of time after reading this tale. I’ve even been left with an uneasiness that will follow every time I hear Blackbird by the Beatles. Scott has created a truly terrifying tale, and I’m ready for Halloween.

5/5 stars

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The Door To January by Gillian French – Review

Ever since sixteen-year-old Natalie Payson moved away from her hometown of Bernier, Maine, she’s had nightmares. And not just the usual ones. These are inside her, pulling her, calling her back, drawing her to a door, a house, a place, a time. Full of fear, full of danger. So this summer, Natalie’s going back to Bernier to face up to a few things: the reason she left town in the first place, the boy she’s trying hard not to trust, and the door in her dreams.

But once she steps through the door, into a murky past, she’s entangled in someone else’s world. And only Natalie can help right the wrongs of both the past and the present.

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Thank you so much to Gillian French for sending me a signed paperback copy of this stunning and literally chilling novel! I am currently in the middle of an Alabama summer, so it is absolutely sweltering outside, but as I devoured this tale today, I was positively freezing. It in itself is a door to January, a barrier which, once broken, leads to an icy and broken world where its characters struggle to keep their wits about them in a world that has stopped making any kind of realistic sense.

We meet Natalie, who is plagued by nightmares. They started once she moved away from her hometown; a place where she lost her childhood in a tragic accident involving a former friend, her cousin, and a band of bullies. She dreams of a rotting house that has been left to the ravages of time, one that she can just barely remember being in that fateful night. In order to regain her memories and hopefully make her nightmares cease, she accepts a job at her aunt’s restaurant under the guise that she is saving up to buy a car so that her parents will let her return to the town where the bullies of her past still lurk.

Accompanied by her cousin, Teddy, she goes to the house and they start to experience odd things. There is definite proof of ghostly activity, and each encounter with these spirits makes the nightmares more vivid, so much so that she begins to slip into them during the day, and in those she is reliving the sordid past of the house. She is desperate to help the souls that are trapped there, but cannot figure out how. She balances this need with the terrifying truth that maybe the gang of kids that had taunted her as a kid are still out for her blood, and every second she spends in this Maine town brings her closer and closer to her own death. She faces a race against time to figure out the mysteries that have weaved themselves in her mind and refuse to let go.

This book is such a fun ride. I have a soft spot in my heart for ghost stories, so I was already excited to read this, but I had no idea what else it had in store for me. There’s more than one murder mystery, a tale of forgiveness, an unexpected romance, and even time travel! This may sound overwhelming, but they all blend together so seamlessly and make this novel exciting from start to finish. It’s easy to pick up and finish in one day, and is engrossing to the point that you won’t want to put it down. I just recommend bundling up as you read, because it will put a chill in your bones. Gillian is a queen of suspense, and I can’t wait to read more from her!

5/5 stars

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In An Instant by Suzanne Redfearn – Review

Life is over in an instant for sixteen-year-old Finn Miller when a devastating car accident tumbles her and ten others over the side of a mountain. Suspended between worlds, she watches helplessly as those she loves struggle to survive.

Impossible choices are made, decisions that leave the survivors tormented with grief and regret. Unable to let go, Finn keeps vigil as they struggle to reclaim their shattered lives. Jack, her father, who seeks vengeance against the one person he can blame other than himself; her best friend, Mo, who bravely searches for the truth as the story of their survival is rewritten; her sister Chloe, who knows Finn lingers and yearns to join her; and her mother, Ann, who saved them all but is haunted by her decisions. Finn needs to move on, but how can she with her family still in pieces?

Heartrending yet ultimately redemptive, In an Instant is a story about the power of love, the meaning of family, and carrying on…even when it seems impossible.

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Many thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this novel! I read the synopsis and was immediately intrigued; eager to see how the ghost of a girl would cope with her family’s disintegration, but also nervous about the reactions of the other people involved in the accident to her death. Little did I know that I was in for so much more than that. I could not have expected the quickness with which the inciting incident happens. It is over in one fell swoop, and it is irreversible. Before I had started the novel I thought that maybe there was a chance that Finn could come back, and that she was just observing the world as her life hung in the balance. This was not the case, however, and as death is in real life, Finn’s departure from her mortal life was a permanent one.

We are given just enough time to fall in love with this character, and even though you know her fate, when it happens, you feel as numb as the others, trapped in the cold. The conditions that Finn’s family and friends were exposed to were extreme but incredibly effective. They are stranded in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a blizzard, most of them not dressed for the outrageous cold they find themselves in. Lines are drawn, sides are taken, and mistakes are made. It is an up close and personal look at how tragedy brings out the best and worst of people. There are things that happen as these characters try to find their way out of this mess that are unforgivable, and it’s sickening to think that someone might actually stoop so low. Suzanne does an impeccable job of showing both sides of the coin, giving us acts of heroism that I, sitting now in my warm house away from the elements, could never consider taking upon myself.

This event is only the beginning, as such life-changing events are. We lose people, we lose body parts, we lose pieces of ourselves. The family that went into the car that night are not the same people who were later found and rescued. Each of them are coping (or not) in their own ways, and Finn watches it all. Her perspective is so bright with life and feeling, and it gives such a real look into the lives of the people she left behind. She knows them better than anyone, so she is able to read them and relay their pain and their future acceptance to us in ways that any other narrator could not. I thought it was so beautiful that she did not leave their sides until they had said their final goodbyes to her, and when she finally knew they were going to be okay.

This book was more heart-wrenching than I could have ever imagined. It was full of raw emotion and truth; and the afterword from the author tells us that this story stemmed from a childhood experience. I can’t imagine how hard this was for her to write and relive, but I’m beyond grateful she did. It’s a masterful exploration of death and grief, and I am so honored to have read it.

5/5 stars

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Infinity Son by Adam Silvera – Review

Balancing epic and intensely personal stakes, bestselling author Adam Silvera’s Infinity Son is a gritty, fast-paced adventure about two brothers caught up in a magical war generations in the making.

Growing up in New York, brothers Emil and Brighton always idolized the Spell Walkers—a vigilante group sworn to rid the world of specters. While the Spell Walkers and other celestials are born with powers, specters take them, violently stealing the essence of endangered magical creatures.

Brighton wishes he had a power so he could join the fray. Emil just wants the fighting to stop. The cycle of violence has taken a toll, making it harder for anyone with a power to live peacefully and openly. In this climate of fear, a gang of specters has been growing bolder by the day.

Then, in a brawl after a protest, Emil manifests a power of his own—one that puts him right at the heart of the conflict and sets him up to be the heroic Spell Walker Brighton always wanted to be.

Brotherhood, love, and loyalty will be put to the test, and no one will escape the fight unscathed.

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Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for this ARC! I am a huge fan of Adam Silvera’s, and up until now I was content having him bewitch me into tears with the beautiful relationships and vivid worlds that he created. Little did I know, though I should have guessed, how completely his fantasy would wow me! He has openly said that he wanted to create an LGBTQ+ world that he would have wanted to disappear in as a kid. He grew up watching the X-Men and Harry Potter, and though you can see little hints of these influences, I think that Adam made a story all his own that all types of people are going to love and connect with.

There are a varied cast of characters here that we get to focus on, but I think the main focus of the novel stems from Emil and Brighton, a pair of twins who couldn’t be more different. They live in a world where Spell Walkers are born with powers but manifest them at different times in their life span. They are feared and revered for being different, and though they have dissipated many a threat, there are enforcers that have been employed to make sure they don’t overstep their bounds and make the population at large uncomfortable. On the other side of that coin, there are also the Blood Casters. They are made up of a group of specters; individuals who have gained power by mixing their blood with that of a supernatural creature such as a hydra or a phoenix. This is not only looked down upon for the slaying of an innocent animal, but also has a fatal flaw in that it is very unstable and oftentimes leads to death.

When Emil finds out he has powers, it is devastating for him and for Brighton. There is a war waging between the Spell Walkers and the Blood Casters, and Emil is swiftly recruited to help goodness prevail. He wants no part of it as he could never imagine hurting someone else, and wants peace above all things. Brighton, who spends his days videoing celestial content, hoping to make his big break, is brokenhearted seeing his brother get everything he wanted and more. Emil gets to save the day with the Spell Walkers Brighton has always looked up to while he’s in the background with a camera. Their relationship is put to the test as Emil tries to push away his own strength and Brighton does whatever he can to join the fray. 

Adam has created an engrossing world with such original and fascinating lore. I love the different kind of phoenixes in this and the way that magic and supernatural powers work. Not only is this is a stunning fantasy endeavor, but I think it is also such a strong coming-of-age novel as well. These characters have always been by each other’s sides and had roles they had to fill, but the circumstances in this book draw them both apart and closer than ever before as they try to adjust to the new parts they have been thrust into. The ending made me gasp, and I cannot wait to see what the sequel will bring.

5/5 stars

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The Speed Of Falling Objects by Nancy Richardson Fischer – Review

From the author of When Elephants Fly comes an exceptional new novel about falling down, risking everything and embracing what makes us unique. Don’t miss this compulsively readable novel about the most unlikely of heroes.

Danger “Danny” Danielle Warren is no stranger to falling. After losing an eye in a childhood accident, she had to relearn her perception of movement and space. Now Danny keeps her head down, studies hard, and works to fulfill everyone else’s needs. She’s certain that her mom’s bitterness and her TV star father’s absence are her fault. If only she were more―more athletic, charismatic, attractive―life would be perfect.

When her dad calls with an offer to join him to film the next episode of his popular survivalist show, Danny jumps at the chance to prove she’s not the disappointment he left behind. Being on set with the hottest teen movie idol of the moment, Gus Price, should be the cherry on top. But when their small plane crashes in the Amazon, and a terrible secret is revealed, Danny must face the truth about the parent she worships and falling for Gus, and find her own inner strength and worth to light the way home.

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Thank you so much to Edelweiss for this ARC! I read the synopsis and was automatically excited to read it, but I had no idea the heart that lay beneath the brush of the Amazon. This tale was expertly wound, and our little heroine felt like an extension of my soul. Watching Danny make her journey from Pigeon to Danielle to Danny to Danger was the the most cathartic thing, and it’s amazing that it happened all within these 336 pages. She grew so much, and it really inspired me. Beneath the actual surviving happening as these characters are stranded in an unfamiliar and hostile environment, you also get to see the inner turmoil that they have been living through.

Danny is sixteen going on seventeen, and she lives with her mom. Her dad is off recording his survival show, ‘Cougar’, and hasn’t been in her life since the accident where she lost her eye. So, when he invites her to go on a trip with him to Peru, despite all of her inner fears of wildlife and disease, she accepts just to spend time with him. I connected with her so deeply here, seeing a younger version of myself, wanting to be the rough and tumble kid who everyone wanted to be around and love. I also saw myself as I am now, scared of rejection and of not being good enough, and Danny’s inner voice might be the true villain of this story. To prove that nagging sound wrong, she goes, but things fall apart much quicker than expected.

This novel had me on the edge of my seat from the plane crash on. There was no holds barred as gore, creatures, and the landscape of this beauty country are all explored. I’ve never been to that side of the world, but after reading this, I feel like I had also gone down and was stranded amongst the flora and fauna. As traumatizing as the events were, I had such a reverence for it, just thinking about seeing, tasting, and experiencing all these things. From poison dart frogs to grilled snake to capturing first love, it was sensory magic. I appreciated the cast of characters we are presented with, and how their varied injuries and backstories make them unforgettable. I don’t think I could ever make it in this situation, and watching Danny wrestle with the illusion of her dad shattering, getting to know the movie star who is her age, and discovering her inner power is simply beautiful.

I think my favorite thing about the whole novel is that we start out with Cougar being the hero. It’s all WWCD? (what would cougar do) and putting him on a pedestal, while he berates Danny for her inexperience. Of course, he’s her father, so it feels like he should be right and the leader and a superhero 100% of the time. As the course of the book goes on, Danny does a lot of growing up. She recognizes her dad’s flaws at the same time as she’s finding out that she can be her own hero. Her inner monologue slowly changes from self-doubt to an admirable self-confidence, and the first time I ever saw WWDD? (what would danny do) I cheered. She lost a lot in that rainforest; friends, her childhood, and nearly her life, multiple times. The fact that she was able to rise above it all and find peace within is the best lesson I think this novel could teach. Truth.

5/5 stars

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American Royals by Katharine McGee – Review

What if America had a royal family? If you can’t get enough of Harry and Meghan or Kate and William, meet American princesses Beatrice and Samantha.

Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown. 
Two girls vying for the prince’s heart. 
This is the story of the American royals.

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren’t just any royals. They’re American. And their country was born of rebellion.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

The duty. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded–and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history.

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Thank you so much to Random House for this ARC! I have loved watching the royal family since I was very young, and the thought of running away to England has always been in the back of my mind, so the thought of bringing a piece of that country to me in the form of a monarchy was a VERY huge selling point for me. I was so impressed by Katharine and how she bled together huge historical events from real life and molded them to fit into this epic ‘What If’ re-imagining of our country’s founding and its effects on modern life.

We are met with four different points of view in this novel. You have Beatrice, the eldest Washington daughter, who is to be the first queen reagent the country has ever had. Right behind her is her sister, Samantha, a wildfire who just wants to be noticed for once. Her best friend is Nina, the Minister of the Treasury’s daughter, and she is head over heels for Samantha’s twin brother, Jeff. Jeff’s ex-girlfriend is the last woman we follow, her name is Daphne, and she will stop at nothing to get the title she thinks she deserves. It’s such a diverse cast of characters, and even though each chapter has a header with the name of the person in focus, it would be so easy to know whose text you were reading without it. These girls all have such different personalities and it’s so exciting to switch between them. It also builds tension very well as you will have a complication come up in one character’s through-line that brings you to a change of pace with something going wonderfully right for another of the four.

That being said, the points of view blend seamlessly together as everything pretty much happens at the same time. It’s a pretty solid train of thought, and I never once lost sight of any of the plot lines. There was so much DRAMA in this tale, and I loved every second of it. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t go into much detail, but these girls are wading through so much shit to just be happy, and it really resonated with me because getting older and having responsibilities thrown at you from every side can take such a toll on you, but it was heartening to see these powerful ladies take what life has thrown at them and just keep getting up when they’re knocked down. They each react in different ways too, so I think it’s really an easy novel to relate to, even though the premise is a world away from our own.

I had maybe ten pages left when I realized that the whirlwind of insanity that had been stirred up in the climax of the book was not going to die down. I’m hoping that this is going to be a series, because it simply CANNOT leave off like this! I’m honestly dying for more, and I can’t wait to see where this story will go next. I’m so glad that I requested this one, and I’m sure it’s going to be a huge hit when it comes out!

5/5 stars

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Hippe Cult Leader: The Last Words Of Charles Manson by James Buddy Day – Review

The day that etched Charles Manson into the mind of the worlds collective consciousness was Friday, August 8th, 1969. That was the fateful weekend when Mansons alleged cult named the Manson Family slaughtered seven people. It wasnt the first time the group had committed murder, nor would it be the last, but the events of that weekend are why Charlie Manson will be remembered as the devil incarnate. A real-life boogeyman capable of untold evil. A maniacal puppet master who carved a swastika in his head with a razor blade. 

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Thank you so much to Netgalley for granting my wish for this book! I’ve grown up with a love for the dark side, and part of that was an interest in serial killers. The thought that someone could kill another person is terrifying and beyond my reasoning, so it is always fascinating to me to read material like this that give us an all-access pass into the person’s life. I was actually named after a victim of the Manson Family, so their story has been woven into my existence. It’s been a long time since I’ve read Helter Skelter, so I can’t compare the information in that novel to this one, which I think is much better. I want this to be its own narrative without being held up to another account.

I really loved the way that this novel was presented. We got backstory on the murders, which were written in graphic detail. I could see every cut, every wild eye within these pages. These scenes were pieced together with conversations the author had with Charles himself, and that on its own was completely wild to me. I can’t imagine writing up one of the most famous killers in the USA and striking up a familiarity with them. It’s possibly the bravest and dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, but the material gathered was worth the risk. I loved hearing Charlie’s words right from his mouth, and taking in the chilling fact that a lot of it didn’t make sense, which showed you the state of his mind.

I think this book taught me a lot in the way of not only the psychology behind the Family, but also just how easy it was to get close to someone in prison way back when. All James did was write him a letter, and from that letter came correspondence and phone calls. There were other ‘friends’ of Charlie’s too who gave him money, sold his artwork, and gave him companionship. This man was born and raised in a prison cell, pretty much, and died the same way. It’s no surprise things ended the way they did, but I don’t think anyone would have guessed the impact. It has been decades, and we’re still trying to find this man out. I’m grateful for people like James Buddy Day who are sharing their stories and connecting the puzzle.

5/5 stars