Beware the Kitten Holy (Lumberjanes (Collected Editions) #1) by Noelle Stevenson

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FRIENDSHIP TO THE MAX!
At Miss Qiunzilla Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's camp for hard-core lady-types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together... And they're not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! The mystery keeps getting bigger, and it all begins here.

I wasn't sure if I would end up liking Lumberjanes because I thought that the story line might not interest me or that the art style might not be for me. 
I've never been so happy to be proven wrong! I started off reading the first pages on my own and my son ended up becoming interested when he began reading over my shoulder. We ended up reading it together which was a really fun experience for us. He tends to like books like Dogman or Captain Underpants which I can't seem to like no matter how hard I try. It was interesting to see him so taken with a group of girls who are goofy and end up being pulled into crazy situations with monsters. He is now begging me to read the rest of the series with him. 
If you are looking for something that is fun, light-hearted, and a little bit crazy at times than this is the graphic novel that you have been waiting for. The art style is so vibrant and beautiful! The jokes are funny and can be a bit on the childish side but enjoyable nonetheless. 

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

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While the Titanic and Lusitania are both well-documented disasters, the single greatest tragedy in maritime history is the little-known January 30, 1945 sinking in the Baltic Sea by a Soviet submarine of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise liner that was supposed to ferry wartime personnel and refugees to safety from the advancing Red Army. The ship was overcrowded with more than 10,500 passengers — the intended capacity was approximately 1,800 — and more than 9,000 people, including 5,000 children, lost their lives.
Sepetys (writer of 'Between Shades of Gray') crafts four fictionalized but historically accurate voices to convey the real-life tragedy. Joana, a Lithuanian with nursing experience; Florian, a Prussian soldier fleeing the Nazis with stolen treasure; and Emilia, a Polish girl close to the end of her pregnancy, converge on their escape journeys as Russian troops advance; each will eventually meet Albert, a Nazi peon with delusions of grandeur, assigned to the Gustloff decks. 


I had heard that if I wanted to read more historical fiction that Ruta Sepetys writes books that are easily digestible in that genre. I have wanted to dive more into the historical fiction genre but haven't felt ready to read adult historical fiction quite yet. 

I had seen rave reviews for Salt to the Sea so I thought that I would read it first. I don't know why I felt intimidated by this novel and thought that I wouldn't like it. I loved it! I was amazed at how well the author was able to paint the picture of a war torn country and people that are fleeing in order to reach safety. I felt as if I were there. I was frightened at points and felt as if I understood the characters and their actions. 

I was surprised to find that I loved all of the characters in the book. I usually have issues with novels that have multiple points of view because I end up disliking at least one character. This can decrease my enjoyment and feel like the pacing has slowed. I found myself intrigued and enjoying each point of view in novel. Each character strengthened the book in some way because they were different nationalities and came from different backgrounds. The author was able to broaden the emotional impact and world view within the story by including the characters that she did. This is definitely a character driven story and normally I would want strong characters and plot but found that the characters were enough to drive the story forward. 

Shadow of the Fox (Shadow of the Fox #1) by Julie Kagawa

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One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos.

Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.

Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll.

There are many who would claim the dragon’s wish for their own. Kage Tatsumi, a mysterious samurai of the Shadow Clan, is one such hunter, under orders to retrieve the scroll…at any cost. Fate brings Kage and Yumeko together. With a promise to lead him to the scroll, an uneasy alliance is formed, offering Yumeko her best hope for survival. But he seeks what she has hidden away, and her deception could ultimately tear them both apart.

With an army of demons at her heels and the unlikeliest of allies at her side, Yumeko’s secrets are more than a matter of life or death. They are the key to the fate of the world itself.

I have had mixed luck with Julie Kagawa's books. I loved The Immortal Rules series but didn't like The Iron Fey series. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read The Shadow of the Fox series because of this but since I have so much time on my hands lately I decided to give it a shot. 

It took me some time to really think through what I thought of Shadow of the Fox because I knew that there was something that I didn't like but I had a hard time deciphering it at first. I will say this for the book...it wasn't boring. It was a fun adventure story that involves samurai and creatures but that is pretty much where my praise ends. 

The story is told through two perspectives (Yumeko and Kage Tatsumi) which is interesting but would have been better if the characters weren't one dimensional and flat. I felt as if each of them repeated a few thoughts each over and over. Yumeko seemed to only think about making Tatsumi her friend and hiding the scroll and Tatsumi only thought about his mission and how he is so evil. 

Another issue that I found with this book was the lack of stakes. Every battle or obstacle that I thought would help to move the story along or have some excitement happen, fell flat due to things happening just right so that everything worked out for the protagonists. I don't tend to enjoy it when characters that I love die but I would love to see them fail at some point or become wounded to the point that they need to seek out help. With the lack of stakes, I cared a lot less about what happened in the story. 

I wanted to like this book but there were just too many obstacles to overcome with the flat characters, lack of stakes, and the plot that wasn't very engaging. 

The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1) by Melissa Albert

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Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away-by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

I have a huge issue with magical realism and tend to dislike books that involve it. When I read The Hazel Wood it felt like magical realism so I think that is why I didn't love the book. I was still able to enjoy it which I would attribute to the element of fairy tales and a story within a story.  

I really liked the darkness of the story and how the hinterland tales were not the typical fluff /sparkly clean fairy tales. It was the element that kept me reading the story because plot itself felt fragmented and the characters were unlikable. I found Finch to be naive and selfish. I had liked him at first but I didn't like the changes in him as the story progressed. Alice was so rage-filled and didn't seem to care about anything or anyone except for her mother which could have redeemed her but she treated her mother poorly at times as well. 

Overall, the story was okay but nothing that I would say has to be read by everyone. If you like dark fairy tales then I think that you might enjoy this book. It is a quick and interesting read.  

Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon

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In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.

The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.

But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.

When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.

*Advanced Copy through Netgalley*

I was excited to hear that Amy would be writing another book that would be coming out this year. I knew that I had to read it because I haven't disliked anything that she has written yet and knew that I would most likely enjoy this one as well. She is one of the few authors that can write a historical romance that I enjoy. Her writing is so beautiful and romantic that it brings the story alive. 

I thought that Where the Lost Wander was another great addition to the books that she has written. It has not usurped my favorite but I thought that it was an interesting take on pioneer life. I appreciated the way that she wrote about the struggles that the pioneers faced back then and the lives that they led. I loved that she relayed both sides of the issues like the tensions between Indian tribes and pioneers without the book becoming too political/preachy. 

This book reminded me heavily of Running Barefoot, an earlier book that Amy wrote that has an American Indian main character that struggles with fitting into a society that doesn't completely accept him. It also has a main character much like Naomi that is different from those around her. I found Running Barefoot to be more relatable and emotional for me but still thought that Where the Lost Wander was very emotional as well. I just found that I didn't connect quite as much as I would have liked with some of the hardships and characters as I would have liked. 

If you enjoy historical romance or just love anything that Amy Harmon writes then I highly recommend that you pick this book up!

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

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In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.

Fairy tale retellings seem to be a hit or miss for me unless they are Alice in Wonderland. I found it intriguing that the author chose to do a take on the twelve dancing princesses and thought I would give it a try.

First of all, I loved the creepy, dark atmosphere that the author was able to create. I almost felt as if I could feel the wind and sea spray and see the ghosts of those that were lost. She was able carry this throughout the book and even intensify it which I appreciated.

Only a few of the characters seemed like actual individuals and the rest were repeats I have seen in other stories before. I liked Annaleigh as she was relentless in her pursuit of the truth and loyal to a fault. She was a great leading lady and pushed the story forward.

I would have liked for the plot to have been more developed. The author does well with trying to misdirect readers away from solving the mystery but I still found part of it predictable. I wanted  to author to leave more breadcrumbs and establish certain pieces of the plot from the beginning.

I also hate to sound like a broken record because so many other people have already said this but I didn't like the very ending of the book. When you decide to take your book in a certain direction then commit to that and don't backtrack. I think the author should have just cut the last three pages of the book.

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas

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I decided not to put the synopsis of this book with this review because I feel like it gives too much away and spoils so points in the book. 

First of all, can we all just look at the eye candy that is this book cover?! This has got to be hands down my favorite cover of all time! 

I don't think that anyone should be surprised by my rating and review of House of Earth and Blood because I LOVE Sarah J. Maas! She has got to be one of my all time favorite authors! I understand that she is not for everyone and that she gets a lot of hate but I'm not ashamed to say that I love her books. I went into this book expecting to love it and I did. There was a moment where I doubted this mainly due to the main character. 

So, let's dive into the main character, Bryce, first. I hated her in the beginning of the book. I thought that she seemed obnoxious, self absorbed, and a party girl. I couldn't relate to her at all. I was praying that she would become tolerable as the book progressed because I couldn't understand what Maas was doing. Thankfully, she grows tremendously as the story unfolds and becomes more likable though at times she is still a jerk. I loved the rest of the characters. They were interesting and Maas was able to represent many different groups of creatures including angels, shape-shifters, humans, merfolk, and faeries. I loved having the variety!

I noticed that a lot of people said that the book was extremely slow and that nothing happened until the last 200 pages. While that may be somewhat true, there is a lot that happens during the whole story up until that point. We get to know the characters and the tension builds regarding the mystery of who is committing the murders. While there were parts that were slower paced, I still enjoyed the dialogue between the characters and getting to know the vast world that is Crescent City. I think that I would describe this book as fantasy thriller which may be why it is throwing some people for a loop. It's not the author's typical type of story with the exception of the romance element which you would find in all of Maas's books. I devoured the last 300 pages because that is when the crap hits the fan and the majority of the reveals happen but I loved the entire thing. I have no doubt that the next book in the series will be even better and I heard that Maas intends to include different parts of the world that she created. If you tend to love Sarah J. Maas books then I think you are in for a treat!

Small Spaces (Small Spaces #1) by Katherine Arden

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After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn't think--she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man," a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price. 

Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn't have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: "Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you." Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN. 

Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver's warning. As the trio head out into the woods--bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them--the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: "Avoid large places. Keep to small." 

And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

I absolutely fell in love with The Bear and the Nightingale and I've been trying to read more middle grade so I thought that Katherine Arden might be the author that could help with that. I thought that Small Spaces would be a book that would draw me in with a creepy atmosphere and begin my journey into enjoying middle grade. 
Small Spaces is a solid book that a younger audience would enjoy if they like books like Goosebumps but it just didn't do it for me. I think that I will stick to her adult books because Small Spaces didn't have enough depth or what I felt was Katharine Arden's usual flavor to it. It was an interesting story that didn't really go anywhere and was wrapped up very quickly. The atmosphere that she is famous for in The Bear in the Nightingale was in Small Spaces as well with the fog and creepy tension but everything else felt somewhat lackluster. I liked the idea behind the story but I think it needed more time to develop. It felt rushed and lacking in originality. 

All Your Perfects

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Colleen Hoover delivers a tour de force novel about a troubled marriage and the one old forgotten promise that might be able to save it.

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?

I have been terrified to read this book since I bought it. I tried to go into it blind but the issue that is the focus of the book was spoiled for me. Knowing what the issue was was what terrified me. I have read and loved all of Colleen Hoover's books in the past but I knew that this one would tear me apart much like It Ends With Us but worse.

I have struggled with with the same issue as the couple in the book though thankfully things never reached the devastating results as they did in the book. Each page of this book was painful to read regardless of my husband and I being at peace with where we are. I was reminded of all the pain I felt throughout the years from the inquiries of others as well as my own feelings of inadequacy as a woman and wife.

I'm not sure if the author has ever struggled with what she wrote about in All Your Perfects but she showed masterful skill regardless in writing about it. I felt understood in a way I haven't before and less alone in my struggles even though the book is a work of fiction. I honestly don't know if others will get what I got out of this book by reading it but I think it is important to read. It meant so much to me and I wish I could meet the author to tell her thank you for writing about difficult topics like this one. It makes people like me feel heard and it means a lot.

Sorcery of Thorns

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All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

I told myself I wasn't going to read this book because of the insane amount of hype but then a reviewer I follow said that it actually deserved the hype so I thought....why not. 
In the beginning I assumed that this book was going to be about fairies because I was aware of the author's other book which I believe is called An Enchantment of Ravens. I was dead wrong. This book was nothing like what I expected. I enjoyed the magic system even though it is not delved into in much detail in the book. I especially enjoyed that the book centered around magical libraries and the books that had the potential to be extremely dangerous to come into contact with. 
I thought that the Elisabeth was interesting and I found her to be relateable albeit slightly annoying at times. I think that readers will love her because of her love of books because they will see themselves in her.  I also liked Nathaniel as a character  and I think that I might have preferred him as the main character. He seemed to have more growth and depth than Elisabeth who went through so much but appeared to remain the same throughout the book. I think that the majority of my issues with characters pertain to the villain. It was obvious who the villain was going to be and the character was just....blah. I just plain didn't care about the villain which is depressing because I love a great villain. 
I know that there was something that I didn't like about the book while I read it but it was hard to pin down. I think what it came down to was that I didn't feel the chemistry between the love interest and main character, there were no high stakes, and there was something off about the pacing. Frankly, I think the author should have cut out the romance all together because it seemed forced as well as the love interest's sexuality. We get one sentence during the book where the love interest basically says "oh yeah, I like guys too" which felt shoehorned in to me. It seemed like the author just wanted to say that she included representation. 
The stakes in the book raise in certain ways like the amount of tension but it seems like people aren't really in danger. If you don't like books where characters don't stay dead, I would recommend that you don't read this. However, if you enjoy the movie Pagemaster ( I know I do!) and love books about books then I think that you will love Sorcery of Thorns.

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss

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Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.

The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.

I need someone to explain to me why so many people love this book so much. I'm so confused about the hype and why readers think that this is one of the best fantasy books ever written.

I found my mind wandering and becoming bored so often while I was reading. I am convinced that the only reason I finished was because it was a book club book and I was already half way through such a hefty novel and it felt like a waste not to finish it.

Name of the Wind wasn't a bad book by any means. It was well written and I enjoyed Kvothe as a character. He was damaged and continued to suffer at the hands of others because he refused to back down and submit. The book was interesting in its own way. However, it read like a memoir or diary that absolutely nothing happened in. I felt like I was some kind of sidekick following the main character around and being told to sit to the side while he took care of business. I wanted more action and adventure. There were three moments in the story where I thought that the book might take a turn and I would become more invested but even the small bits of action felt bland and unmemorable.

I wanted to love this book so much and I'm disappointed that I didn't. I don't think that I will continue the series which is somewhat of a relief considering that the author seems to have stopped writing it. I'm glad that I don't have to suffer like the readers that are still waiting for the third book. 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

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Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

It's hard to believe that this book was written by the same person that wrote Pride and Prejudice. It didn't feel like a romance at all. There didn't seem to be chemistry between any of the characters and the love interests. There were only two characters that I liked and I wished that they would end up together but that wasn't the case. I didn't understand why the author decided on the couplings that she did or why she feels the need to put one annoying female character and a complete jerk male character in her books. I know that I have only read two of her novels but it seems to be a pattern so far. I went into this book hoping to like it and was disappointed that wasn't the case. The plot was uninteresting and difficult to follow at points. I felt like the ending was rushed and didn't really make any sense due to certain characters motivations changing so drastically without much forethought or explanation. This just wasn't the book for me. I will probably try another book by Jane Austen but if I feel similarly to how I feel about Sense and Sensibility then I might decide to give up on Jane Austen books.