Danielle

Clean fantasy with fun premise

Reviewed: 04-20-25

This was a fun little quest with the lake monster and a witch. There were a lot of fun fantastical elements (goblins, dragons, etc) and a bit of the English Arthurian legend woven in.
There were a couple times where I felt like it was dialogue heavy, and the story got a little slow.
There was no romance in this book and I’d consider this a pretty clean fantasy.

Enjoyable but there were some misses.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

This was tragic and I couldn’t put it down

Reviewed: 04-16-25

In WW2 a German cruise liner carrying thousands of war refugees sunk in the frigid Baltic Sea. Most have never heard of it, myself included until I picked up this book.

We get introduced to 4 fictional characters (each with their own storyline and motives) and we follow them on their journey to the ship and during the calamity at sea. We get short chapters that give us flashes of each character.
-Emilia, a young polish pregnant girl
-Joana a young female nurse
-Florian, Prussian soldier who has deserted and fleeing with stolen treasure from Hitlers stash
-Albert, a Nazi sailor who has some screws loose

I personally love multiple perspectives, it just gives such a deeper shape to the story. Each of the characters were compelling in their own way.
Remember how in movie Titanic, most of the storyline took place before the actual sinking? That's basically how this story goes too.
You will get attached before the catastrophe.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Multigenerational Native Life Story

Reviewed: 03-02-25

They took their land. They took their children. They tried to take their spirits and culture and sadly, it was semi successful. So successful that they have consolidated all of our Native communities out west into small reservations. Oppressed them into poverty, substance abuse and overall mental unwellness.
There can never be enough stories told to honor all the souls that were damaged in the making of America.

I wish we had listened to them instead of eradicating.
I wish we had learned instead of ruling over them.
I wish we had connected with them instead of pushing them away.

Rosalie is a middle aged Native American woman who is longing to stay connected to her heritage.
The story begins with her going back to her family’s old abandoned cabin to find herself and connect with her roots.
Throughout the story, we get glimpses of her childhood and young adult life. We see what led her away from her people and what made her realize she had been led too far.
Then we get to watch her find her way back to the way of life she was meant for, the family she was meant to be with.
The Native way of life is beautiful and I love to learn from books like these.

The idea of putting the seed in your mouth before planting, getting it ready for the soil and infusing our spirit into it.
Gardening naturally, not using pesticides and other harmful ingredients that ruin our soil and water.
The idea of reciprocating, giving back when you are taking from. Offering when you need. Asking instead of just assuming it’s yours for the taking. Giving messages to the trees for them to pass along through their networks of roots. It’s just beautiful and resonates so deeply with me.

Reading Rosalie’s story inspires me to walk more gently on this earth. I want to be a part of it, not just a pest.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Get your tissues ready!

Reviewed: 02-16-25

Nina and Meredith have always had a strained relationship with their cold, hardened Russian mother. When their father passes away, they are left to take care of this mother that they barely even like.

This is a story about families with strained relationships.
It’s about giving them grace, but also learning to hold them accountable.
It’s about seeking understanding and forgiveness.

I loved this book about mothers, daughters and sisters bonding over good food and Russian vodka.
It absolutely broke my heart into pieces though, get your tissues ready you guys.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Amazing Female Leads!

Reviewed: 02-12-25

This was a huge, intricate book world with multiple female leads. Each of their storylines are compelling and exciting in some way. We have a Queen, a mage and a dragon rider. Reducing them to those titles after spending so much time with them in this book feels wrong, they were so much more.

Through their stories, you can expect coming of age, motherhood, sisterhood, pregnancy, friendships, betrayals, magic, love, grief and loss. Their storylines come together (kind of) with their common cause of fighting against the army of beasts set to destroy their world. In this huge book world, there are different religions and myths and cultures. It is such a rich, immersive story and I loved it.

Priory of the Orange Tree is one of my favorites, and through this prequel we learn some things that enriched the first book. I loved spending more time in the Priory, learning of their ways and customs. Tunuvas story was probably my absolute favorite, but Glorian really won me over towards the end.
This book was epic and amazing, it did feel long winded but I was never bored.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

An amazing woman of ancient Assyria

Reviewed: 01-27-25

It’s a story about a clever, beautiful, ambitous woman who rose from humble beginnings to rule one of the biggest empires in the world.

The setting is in the 9th century BC, we’re in the Assyrian Empire (which is in the modern day Middle East) This empire is known for its brutality, conquests, innovations and art.

Don’t be intimidated by all the historical talk, all of the information you need to know gets introduced to you in such a beautiful way. There was no info dump or confusion.
Babylonia is a fictional spin on Semiramis, and what her life and journey may have been like.
She befriends the slaves and scribes, she has a pet leopard as her sidekick, she rides into battles with her husband and burns down cities in the name of Assyria.
The author didn’t shy away from depicting Assyria as the brutal conquerors that they were, some scenes in this book were pretty bloody and savage.
But reading Babylonia by Costanza Casati felt like time traveling to the wild world of Assyria but from the safety of my bed.
I loved the complex relationships between all of the characters, the court politics and secrets, and I loved how well researched this was. The author really dove into historical myths, art depictions and writings to create this story and I loved it.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Funny and spooky

Reviewed: 10-20-24

Great blend of comedy and horror. I had a great time reading this.
It was gruesome and kinda goofy, loved it.

Margaret has found her dream home, which ends up being extremely haunted. She decides to learn to live with the ghosts and poltergeists in the home by trying to understand their quirks and needs. From dealing with blood oozing from the walls to dozens of dead birds constantly showing up in the yard. She even befriends a couple of the spirits and learns to love her ghost maid who’s missing part of her face.
Their daughter, Catherine, comes home to visit to deal with Margaret’s husbands disappearance, she doesn’t know about the extra house guests. Margaret’s struggle to keep the secret was pretty comical at times. When Catherine gets suspicious about her mother behavior, the ghosts get even more active and things start to unravel.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

You’ll love visiting this world

Reviewed: 08-21-24

Kiela is a librarian, her job was to keep track of all the sacred texts and spell books. When her library catches fire during a revolution, she flees with anything she can carry on a boat to her home island. When she arrives she realizes the land and its inhabitants are being affected from lack of magic. She decides to use the spells in the books she saved to save herself and her island.

There are talking plants, singing trees, merhorses and merbabies, cloud bears who protect the forest. I loved this beautiful nonsensical world. It was such a fun place to visit in my imagination. It was funny, it was cozy and it was such a cute book. The cover art is also gorgeous.
This felt like a grown up Disney movie with all the beautiful fantastical elements.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Exciting story!

Reviewed: 08-16-24

A story of a heist told through the eyes of 6 outcasts.
It took a few chapters to orient myself into the book, with the different perspectives I was piecing things together…but once I got it, I was locked in.
It was all very exciting, I loved the tangled histories and complicated pasts.
They all brought something unique and vital to the group.
-Kaz, mastermind and leader of the group.
-Inej, Kaz’s 2nd hand man (or girl), she’s called the wraith. Ninja like and protects her causes from the rooftops.
-Nina, grisha healer. Helps others and uses powers to knock out enemies
-Matthias, former soldier of the druskelle. Knows the inner workings of the Ice Court they are trying to penetrate.
-Jesper, a gambler but also cunning and good with shooting and firearms
-Wylan, young and talented with explosives and other useful survival gadgets

So much happened, it was action and detail packed. Super fun book.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

For all the angry cooks out there

Reviewed: 08-08-24

-Fin has been hired as the royal cook. He’s curt, but he’s not truly unkind. He takes his position seriously, it’s his life’s work because he’s a house witchanf he possesses special powers over spaces he feels are home. I loved this character and magic and sarcasm. I understand his kitchen rage 100000% because I also demand cleanliness and peace when I’m cooking lol
-he makes some enemies with his blunt attitude, and he also wins people over with his delicious cooking and healing teas, and as he protects those in his home and space. He becomes valuable and friends with the nobles as they get to know him.
-We zoom in on different characters in the castle, seeing what they’re up to in their own little worlds. We even get to see the cat prowling the streets.

I really loved this. It was funny and cozy. It’s a story that makes you feel happy.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!