happy reading – GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Mystery/Thriller
Length: 371 pages
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Dutton Books
Release Date: July 3rd, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she–or anyone–saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings–massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends.

Yet it’s immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp’s twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.

WELL, THAT WAS THRILLING.

Thank you, I’ll be here all week.

ANYWAYS. This really was a fantastic thriller. Probably the first one in awhile to really capture my attention AND hold it the entire time.

What really worked for me was the setting. The creepy camp where girls disappeared? Totally works. I found myself spooked at times and really questioning what was happening and how reliable the narrator was. The blame rotates well and makes it hard to figure out who truly did what.

The final reveals were practically a blindside. I had my eyes one character who I assumed was the culprit and was surprised when the truth started rolling out. It was WILD. The background information and history woven behind the camp added so well to the overall vibe of this mystery.

And those last few pages? Sealed the deal. It took this book to a whole other wicked level and I was freaking out and loving it.

I usually have a hard time staying invested in thrillers, by about halfway I start to skim for the final reveal. I felt The Last Time I Lied, held my attention well and was letting out just enough details to keep me going while also adding some odd and bizarre antics to the story.

Overall audience notes:

Thriller / Mystery
Language: some
Romance: kisses / make-outs
Violence: a scene where a character “peeks in” on a love scene, physical altercation, murder
Content warnings: mental illness, gas-lighting

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Book Review: The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3) by S.A. Chakraborty

November 18, 2020July 24, 2020 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 766 pages
Author: S.A. Chakraborty
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: June 11th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The final chapter in the bestselling, critically acclaimed Daevabad Trilogy, in which a con-woman and an idealistic djinn prince join forces to save a magical kingdom from a devastating civil war.

Daevabad has fallen.

After a brutal conquest stripped the city of its magic, Nahid leader Banu Manizheh and her resurrected commander, Dara, must try to repair their fraying alliance and stabilize a fractious, warring people.

But the bloodletting and loss of his beloved Nahri have unleashed the worst demons of Dara’s dark past. To vanquish them, he must face some ugly truths about his history and put himself at the mercy of those he once considered enemies.

Having narrowly escaped their murderous families and Daevabad’s deadly politics, Nahri and Ali, now safe in Cairo, face difficult choices of their own. While Nahri finds peace in the old rhythms and familiar comforts of her human home, she is haunted by the knowledge that the loved ones she left behind and the people who considered her a savior are at the mercy of a new tyrant. Ali, too, cannot help but look back, and is determined to return to rescue his city and the family that remains. Seeking support in his mother’s homeland, he discovers that his connection to the marid goes far deeper than expected and threatens not only his relationship with Nahri, but his very faith.

As peace grows more elusive and old players return, Nahri, Ali, and Dara come to understand that in order to remake the world, they may need to fight those they once loved . . . and take a stand for those they once hurt.

FINALE OF MY DREAMS.

Opening up the last book in a series is always a momentous, and nerve-wracking occasion. Will this meet all my expectations and give the ending I’m hoping for? I can easily say for The Empire of Gold, that was the case. This was an amazing finale and I’ll shout again, YOU SHOULD READ THIS SERIES.

I loved how everything moved and flowed. The action kept my heart in my throat, I truly didn’t know who was going to survive this series. Many, many scenes of politics, which usually I struggle with, changed my mind here. They were intense meetings and moments trying to decide the fate of a beloved city. The intensity of emotions really compelled my own feelings.

The villains in this are legit. Oh wow, so complex and convoluted, that you maybe don’t cheer for them, but you get it. The ability to weave such a dynamic character for an antagonist kept me intensely interested. I wanted to know how things were going to happen, because the utter ruthlessness had me gasping.

Now to my loves, Nahri, Ali, and Dara. AH I LOVE THEM ALL. I can’t put into words how amazing these characters are. I love the diversity and clearly unique personalities between them all. The weaving interactions and moments between them had me catching my breath. Even brought some tears to my eyes as the book started wrapping up. The words between them were powerful and this ended in all the ways it needed too. It’s one of those endings that you can’t say is glaringly happy, but fits so perfectly, you know you’ve just finished a book you’ll remember.

Overall audience notes:

Adult fantasy
Language: some strong
Romance: kisses / heated make-out
Violence: often and bloody/gory; physical, torture, mutilation, war

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Book Review

Book Review: The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

November 11, 2020July 16, 2020 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 369 pages
Author: Josie Silver
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: March 3rd, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They’d been together for more than a decade, and Lydia thought their love was indestructible.

But she was wrong. On her twenty-eighth birthday, Freddie died in a car accident.

So now it’s just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob until her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to try to live fully, happily, even without him. So, enlisting the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world, open to life–and perhaps even love–again.

But then something inexplicable happens that gives her another chance at her old life with Freddie. A life where none of the tragic events of the past few months have happened.

Lydia is pulled again and again across the doorway of her past, living two lives, impossibly, at once. But there’s an emotional toll to returning to a world where Freddie, alive, still owns her heart. Because there’s someone in her new life, her real life, who wants her to stay.

Written with Josie Silver’s trademark warmth and wit, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is a powerful and thrilling love story about the what-ifs that arise at life’s crossroads, and what happens when one woman is given a miraculous chance to answer them.

LACKED PLOT.

I had such a hard time reading this book. Not because of the nature of it, but because it lacked a lot more substance to bring the story home.

This book hurt. I feel like anyone with a significant other will attest to that. It’s not a light read. Grief, depression, devastation, all topics on this scale are discussed. I wanted to connect more to the characters and lives of everyone, but never quite got there.

It was unique to have two different worlds Lydia could live in while she was working through her grief, but I also feel this really hindered her. It slowed everything down and rather than watching her move forward (at her own pace) it felt like everything was held back. I thought a handful of sub-plots weren’t necessary and didn’t fit in with the narrative.

And the ending, I was wishing the entire time that that wouldn’t happen. Then it did, and I felt conflicted? I thought the writing was engaging enough to give hope to the end, even if I may not be completely on board.

I don’t have a lot to say towards this. I think it will hit hard for some and be a miss for others. And while it was a miss for me, it didn’t detract from the pain I know I would feel it something like this happened to me. Everyone does grieve in their own ways and while I may have struggled with this book, I think it brought up a lot of good topics and talking points that could be discussed with others.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: some
Romance: a few fade to black scenes, nothing descriptive
Trigger warnings: car wreck causing the loss of a loved one, depression/grief

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Book Review

Book Review: Elantris (Elantris #1) by Brandon Sanderson

October 12, 2020June 24, 2020 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 638 pages
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: May 1st, 2005
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.

Arelon’s new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping — based on their correspondence — to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

A rare epic fantasy that doesn’t recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It’s also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.

AMAZING. PER USUAL.

I’m never surprised that I always end up loving any book by Sanderson. Occasionally with a favorite author, you run across a book that just doesn’t click, 13 books later, and I DO NOT HAVE THAT ISSUE. I love them all.

This was no exception. Elantris is one of Sanderson’s older titles that I *think* some claim is a lesser novel of his? While no Stormlight Archive, it’s still a superb read. I listened to it on audio and thought the narrator was great too.

One of my favorite parts was the romance (who’s surprised?). It’s nothing major or anything, but the lost loves finding one another was precious and just sweet. I adore Sarene and Raoden as characters. Talk about a power couple. Both strong, courageous, and didn’t take a thing laying down. One of the best character arcs was for Hrathen. He went from someone I hated, to someone I understood and appreciated as a POV in Elantris. All three of these characters had points-of-view and it really gave angles to all sides of Arelon and Elantris.

I loved the magic system and the way the world worked in general. I thought it was interesting how heavily the world’s religions played into the characters and the nation itself. It was a solid combination of all of these that kept up the intrigue and mystery.

I hope one day we do get a sequel because there’s clearly plenty more story lines that Sanderson could pursue. This one ends without any cliffhangers and with a great close out that doesn’t leave you hanging.

Overall audience notes: