Tag: Book Review

Book Review: Daughter of the Sun (The Mothmar Trilogy #1) by Amanda Auler

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 383 pages
Author: Amanda Auler
Publisher: Spirelight Press
Release Date: October 18th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Born without a Gift, Solyana must accept being ordinary amidst the extraordinary. But when blizzards devastate her valley and endanger village life, a prophetic sign emerges, proclaiming Solyana the savior.

Fulfilling the prophecy means leaving the valley and journeying into greater Mothmar–where every previous expedition has led to death.

Unwinding the mysteries of the past and present, Solyana’s choices could spell survival or extinction for those she loves and unknowingly bind her to another…

Pallah, the object of her father’s disdain and overshadowed by her siblings, is desperate for the home she’s never had.

Accepted into a group of elusive zealots under the wrong pretenses, Pallah begins to discover she may be as dangerous to herself as she is portrayed to be to others.

On a night that changes her life forever, Pallah discovers her Gift is forbidden. Between her new group of friends and the persistent voice in her head, Pallah is pushed toward a decision that could send her into irreversible darkness.

Can Solyana find the truth to the prophecy before she is thrust into the awaiting abyss? Can Pallah discover her true purpose before her world collapses in on itself?

A story of friendship, family, and the choices that shape us. Dive into the world of Mothmar and experience magic, animal companionship, and adventure layered through time and dipped in mystery.

GOOD START.

This was a great audiobook. I liked many aspects and look forward to reading book two!

The two main FMC’s had a lot going for them and I liked their journey. There’s a lot of complicated matters happening and I loved the push and pull of what’s right and wrong. There’s some subtle romance plot lines I would love to see some more depth in.

I liked the magic system involving tethers, animals and more. I think that was explained well and I followed that much easier than I did the overall world building. I feel like I’m still a little confused on who’s who and what’s what across the board.

This was a nice series starter and one I’m grateful I had the chance to listen (definitely recommend the audiobook).

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate-high

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Catherine Bakewell
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: March 14th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Tamora Pierce, this standalone YA debut is a stunning cottagecore fantasy romance about a girl with powerful and violent magic, which she must learn to control—or lose everything she loves.

Clara’s magic has always been wild. But it’s never been dangerous. Then a simple touch causes poisonous flowers to bloom in her father’s chest.

The only way to heal him is to cast an extremely difficult spell that requires perfect control. And the only person willing to help is her former best friend, Xavier, who’s grown from a sweet, shy child into a mysterious and distant young man.

Xavier names a terrible price in return, knowing Clara will give anything to save her father. As she struggles to reconcile the new Xavier with the boy she once loved, she discovers their bargain is only one of the heavy secrets he’s hiding. And as she hunts for the truth, she instead finds the root of a terrible darkness that’s taken hold in the queendom—a darkness only Clara’s magic is powerful enough to stop.

MEH.

I admit the beautiful cover sucked me in, even though I had friends give this book the same rating I just did. I was still hopeful. OH WELL.

The general idea of this book was fine. And the characters were also that, just fine. Setting, magic, world building. FINE (see where I’m going with this?). The entire book needed much more expansion of all the ideas. Too many things felt small or rushed for the sake of completing the story in one book and I don’t think the overall plot was strong enough to carry it through.

I liked the romance. It was a kind of cute second chance trope that caught my attention. Things moved super fast (my usual issue in standalone fantasies), besides that though, I did like how things wrapped up. It was a good ending and I was happy to see some necessary things resolved.

Darn you gorgeous cover artists.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: depression, a sick parent, light wound depiction

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ARC Book Review: Highcliffe House by Megan Walker

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Megan Walker
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: March 7th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Love ignites when two rivals vie to secure a possible fortune at the seaside town of Brighton.

Brighton, England, 1813

When a romantic entanglement leaves her humiliated and reeling, Anna Lane wants nothing more than for her father to whisk her away from the gossip of the ton. Unfortunately, he has obligations elsewhere, leaving her stuck in London.

Graham Everett’s financial security depends on an investment with Mr. Lane, his long-time friend and business partner. He’ll do just about anything to secure it for his family, even if it means fighting spoiled, embittered Anna for her father’s attention.

Luckily, Mr. Lane concocts a plan that will give everyone what they wat, with one stipulation: Anna must accompany Graham to Brighton in her father’s stead and make a decision to invest—or not—based on a thorough report.

But it will take more than a day at the beach for these two headstrong hearts to admit that they’ve been wrong about each other. If they are willing to invest a little time working out their differences, they might have a chance at real love.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain for the ARC.

LOVED IT.

Goodness this was such a lovely book. I needed a read like this. I loved how this enemies/rivals to lovers was portrayed and thank heavens for dual POV. I loved getting to know both Graham and Anna. Slowly watching their realizations and misconceptions about each other were wrong and finding that long standing connection between them turn into love was all sorts of romantic.

I adored the banter and the tender moments woven throughout the story. This book was full of heat and the simmering tension had me begging for them to kiss already. I loved the longing glances and tiny touches.

What I loved all the more was that anytime I thought that things were going to turn in a direction I wouldn’t love, communication and care showed itself. I LOVE how the conflicts were handled. There’s arguments and trouble, but also forgiveness and appreciation. Megan Walker continues to be one of my favorite historical romance authors.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Fiction
Length: 312 pages
Author: Marjan Kamali
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: June 18th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A poignant, heartfelt new novel by the award-nominated author of Together Tea—extolled by the Wall Street Journal as a “moving tale of lost love” and by Shelf Awareness as “a powerful, heartbreaking story”—explores loss, reconciliation, and the quirks of fate.

Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.

Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.

A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?

HURT ME.

This book hurt me deeply y’all. DEEPLY. Honestly the ending wasn’t everything *I* was needing and left me a bit bereft and filled with all the feelings.

BUT, this was still an amazingly good read. I was attached to the audiobook because I had to keep seeing how this story unfolded. I loved the historical fiction aspects and reading about a part of history I don’t know a lot about. I love learning through books and this brought an intense amount of insight to the pain of the time period.

And I do love a book that makes me feel every emotion. I was on that journey with Roya and was pulled every which way with her. There’s many many things to unpack in this story and the complications that life ultimately brings.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical fiction
  • Language: none-low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: suicide attempt, abortion, war, violence, child loss

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph