Review: The Hidden by Melanie Golding

The Hidden by Melanie Golding
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an arc of the audiobook via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

The narrator was fantastic! She did a wonderful job with the different voices for the characters. She also has a lovely singing voice. I love those little touches when a narrator can add to the story by singing parts of the story, which in this book music and song was an important part of the story. She also did an amazing job with Leonie's voice, it is hard to do a realistic 2 year old voice without sounding fake and ridiculous, but she did a great job with it.

This mystery/thriller takes a while to come together. It is told from several different perspectives, the main being Ruby a struggling musician and Joanna a detective. Joanna is Ruby's mother, so naturally when she finds that Ruby may be involved with a case she is investigating, she wants to protect her daughter. Their relationship is a bit unconventional and has been strained as of late, but as the story unfolds we find out why. We also learn of Ruby's involvement in her neighbor Gregor's life and his own unconventional family. As the story unfolds she sees parallels between her upbringing and that of her new friend Constance and her daughter Leonie.

The timeline for this switches back and forth between then and now, I believe they are about 1 year apart from each other from when Ruby befriends Gregor and is introduced to Constance and their daughter Leonie. In the present we follow Joanna as she is investigating Gregor's attempted murder and a missing child case that may be related. As the story slowly develops, Gregor paints a picture where Constance is mentally unstable. The more Ruby gets to know the strange family, the more she realizes something is off with their story and she is determined to find out the truth if only to help the innocent little girl she has come to love.

I don't want to spoil too much because as things started to come together, this was actually pretty twisty and turny. I loved the mix of mythology and almost magical realism mixed in with the mystery and thriller elements. This took some unexpected turns and I really appreciated how the different perspectives added to the storytelling. This also takes a good look at family and the dynamic between the mother-daughter relationship. This was layered with so many different elements that keep the reader engaged and wanting to know what is going to happen next. It starts off slow, but the pace builds nicely and then takes off and holds steady until the end. I really enjoyed this and will be looking into more of the author's work.

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Review: Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not really sure how to rate this book.  There were parts I really liked and parts I didn't.  This probably falls somewhere between a 2.5 and 3 stars for me.  It is well written, has a unique storyline, and interesting characters.  

I love mythology and folklore.  I wasn't very familiar with Korean folklore before, but after reading this I feel like I need to investigate the subject more.  I also love learning about cultures different than my own.  I feel reading own voices books such as this one is a good way to do so.  I was fully immersed in the parts of the story surrounding the folklore and mythology aspect of the story.  Elsa's journey into learning about her mom, her Korean heritage, the magical realism, and the folklore of her ancestors was great.  Unfortunately the writing style didn't work for me.  I spent most of the book being completely confused about what was happening and felt like I was reading several different books at once.  I'm not a fan of stream of consciousness writing, it doesn't work for me personally, though I know some readers love it.  I find it confusing to follow the plot because even though everything is connected, they aren't organized and I find it very hard to follow and connect to the story and the characters.  I constantly feel like I missed something because the subject would dart from one thing to the next.  

This hits on many social justice issues that are timely with social media bringing to light the crimes against those of Asian decent.  The main character gives the impression that she is very anti-white and anti anyone not Korean, as she has experienced racism, prejudice, and bigotry her entire life.  She is going through a discovery and acceptance phase after the death of her mother and part of her journey is to come to terms with her past, her family's past, and who she is not only as a Korean American but as Elsa Park the person.  This also speaks to mental health issues.  I'm not sure I care for the way mental health was portrayed in this book, however it does show what can be the very real and ugly side to living with mental health and perhaps these were written from first hand experience or accounts in the author's life.  If that is the case, then my opinion on the matter doesn't really count.  The author states on her goodreads page that this book is her spiritual debut, and I feel like she accomplished that.  I'm not sure which of her own experiences are on the page, but you can feel the emotion coming through and the care she took with the telling of the story.  She is very blunt about various traumas in this book.  That is either going to really appeal to you or it is not.  There are many heavy and uncomfortable moments in the book.

If you enjoy genre bending stories written in the stream of consciousness style give this one a go.  This is well written and the own voices aspect and folklore is well done.  Being that I don't care for the stream of consciousness style of writing, it made it really hard for me to get through this and connect with the book, but that is a me issue not necessarily an issue with the book itself.  While I may not have loved it, I do think many people will enjoy this.  I think we need more books like this out there.

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Review: The Furies by Katie Lowe

The Furies by Katie Lowe
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was provided an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  This book was published on October 8, 2019.

This book is out now so hopefully some of my issues with this book may be related to the fact that it was an ARC and hopefully were corrected with editing. I didn't love the writing style of this. It felt choppy and disjointed. For example, the two main characters would be talking about looking at something while standing then in the next sentence they would be sitting on a bed in another room. There would be no mention of them moving or sitting down. Another example, two characters would be walking up the street, one was wandering aimlessly and the other was going to her boyfriends, they begin talking there is no mention of a party in their dialogue yet one character asks if the other is going to said party. I had to reread passages to see if I missed something. This really threw the pacing off for me because you had to infer a lot of information that wasn't on the page. Having read an ARC that is several months out from publication it may be the case that those continuity issues have been corrected in the final publication. It could just be the type of prose this writer uses, which is not my preferred style. I've read a few other books this year that have this style and it seems to be a newer type of prose that some will really enjoy. So take that with a grain of salt.

I was actually really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver for me. The description gave me vibes of the movie The Craft (which I love) where four girls somewhat on the outskirts of society form a kind of a feminist coven to seek revenge on those who have wronged them. While that's kind of what happens, this book fell really short for me. There is a lot glorified of drug and alcohol use as an escape for dealing with problems. As a book being marketed to young women, I have a big problem with the amount of drug and alcohol use in this book, emotional and physical abuse, and lack of adult supervision in this book. These girls are left to their own devices to solve some pretty serious issues. Any challenge to their poor decision making amongst their group or from outside is met with “F you” as a response. Their decisions to take matters into their own hands are guided by the occult and mythology of The Furies, which they learn about in their posh, unconventional private school. I wish the mythology and occult had been flushed out a bit more. The magical element was lacking for me; again it was left for the reader to imagine. I personally would have like a bit more information on the page, but again that's my preference.

I think this was a case of a book that turned out to be not what I was expecting. I wanted more mythology and magic/occult. I wanted the one or all of the girls to learn and grow and be empowered by their difficult situations. While Robin is the dark and troubled ring leader who you expect to stay dark and troubled, I kind of expected Violet to turn out to be the light heroine who comes into her own despite all of the bad things in her life. Instead she is just as unlikeable as Robin, and never develops into an empowered young woman. She is gullible, naïve, and co-dependent. She is so obsessed with being liked by Robin and the group she will do anything Robin says. It just didn’t work for me.

If you like toxic friendships and dark characters arcs, I’d say give this a go. Just beware that there are a lot of potential triggers in this book. The fantastical element in this book didn’t deliver, but the thriller element kept me invested enough to finish. You keep reading because you want to know what crazy thing the girls are going to do next. This also starts with a dead girl, and you keep reading to find out what really happened and how it all comes together.


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Review: The Physick Book Of Deliverance Dane

The Physick Book Of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I listened to the audiobook of this after reading The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs. After fininishing Temperance Hobbs I discovered that there was another book. While you don't need to read this one first, they both stand on their own, I recommend reading this one first as it gives a great back story on now Connie and Sam meet and tells Deliverance's story which is something I was missing in the other book. Little did I know she had an entire book devoted to her back story.

This is a wonderful nod to the Salem Witch trials and the craze that occurred in the 1690's. Howe does a wonderful job blending the historical information with fiction in this book. I love how she too real accounts and people and blended them in with her tale. It is very well done.

This follows Connie Goodwin, a promising history graduate student at Harvard. Her advisor is keen on her finding a primary source for the paper she is going to write. Connie is called upon by her mother, a free spirit living in Arizona, to sell her grandmother's very old, very odd house. What Connie uncovers while she is cleaning up the house for sale is the old family bible and a key with a name attached to it. This discovery leads her on a literal witch hunt to find a women who she believes is not only her ancestor but was also persecuted as a witch. She soon finds that Deliverance Dane was a healer and known to have a physick book. This could be Connie's primary source for her research. Unfortunately strange things start to happen as Connie tries to find the book. Connie is forced to accept that her family may have gifts that she was unaware of or unwilling to see in order to save the man she's come to care about.

I really enjoyed this and I'm glad I went back to read this after reading the 2nd book. I highly recommend the series if you like magical realism, witch lore, and historical fiction.


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Review: The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an advanced copy of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  This was released on June 24, 2019.

I really enjoyed this book. It has a bit of historical fiction, a bit of magic, and some interesting family dynamics. I didn’t realize this was the 2nd book in a series, having said that this book can be read as a standalone. It 100% stands on its own. Knowing that there is another book about Deliverance Dane I want to go read that now after reading this. I certainly didn’t need to read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane to follow along with this but I want to know more about this family of magical ladies.

This book follows Connie Goodwin as she navigates her busy life as a Professor at Northeastern trying to get tenure, a mentor to graduate students and doctoral candidates, writing a book, a friend, a daughter, and a romantic partner to the wonderful Sam. Connie is an expert in magic in the Colonial age of America, but what no one knows is that Connie is the descendent of a long line of women who through the help of tinctures and “recipes” were able to wield power of their own. Connie learns through her mother, Grace that Sam’s life is in danger as none of the men in the family have ever lived. Connie is determined to use her family’s recipe book to solve the age old mystery and save her beloved. In addition to Connie’s perspective, we alternate with the many women who came before her and wielded the magic Connie is trying to uncover. As we learn their stories, we come to meet Temperance Hobbs and come to understand why she was so important.

This book is so well researched. I love a good story with magic and Howe did an amazing job weaving in the history of the different time periods into the story. I also loved getting to know about the life of the doctorate candidate and a college professor. I really liked the writing style and character development in this book. I really loved the characters and their interactions. We have some great female friendships, a good healthy romance, a good mother daughter relationship. None of these relationships are perfect, but they are all written realistically. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.


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Review: Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.  This came out in early October.  I know this is up a little late, but alteast I got to it.  A month late isn't too bad.

The plot follows three different perspectives, four if you count the perspective of "the Rock", Zoey, Marion, and Val. Zoey is the police chief's daughter, she has recently lost her best friend in a mysterious disappearance and she is determined to find out what happened to her. Marion is the new girl on the island, her father has recently died and her sister mysteriously disappears shortly after they arrive. Val is the beautiful and affluent girl that Marion's family came to work for, but Val's family has a dark secret tied to all of the disappearances on the island. The girls are ultimately connected and not just because the island of Sawkill Rock is small and everyone knows everyone. As girls keep disappearing, Zoey and Marion discover that they have developed supernatural powers, but they aren't sure why. Val and her family have been connected to the disappearance and legend of The Collector for generations. Val wants no part of it, but she can't seem to see a way out of the part she's been destined to play. As she fights the Collector's wishes, she too develops a power. Zoey, Marion, and Val eventually figure out that they have to use their "gifts" to fight the monster.

Meanwhile, Zoey's dad the chief of police also happens to be a member of a misogynistic cult. The cult is tasked with banishing the monsters around the world like Sawkill's Collector. Their methods are brutal, and involve the girls dying to make the monster go away temporarily. The girls aren't having it. Each of them is strong willed, smart, and doesn't want to die. They are all fighters and want to go down swinging. The Hand of Light was irritating, and you really just wanted them to go away anytime they came around.

As for The Collector, I really wanted him to be more scary. He was creepy sure, but he wasn't scary. He was kind of just a jerk, who happened to be a monster.

This tackles some real world subjects and decent representation. I thought this was done very well. There is an African American character who is also asexual. Asexuality is discussed, not just glossed over. There is a real discussion on how that does and may impact a romantic relationship in the future in a very realistic way. There is a lesbian relationship between two of the main characters. When the characters say and do hurtful things to each other it is addressed, and they don't kiss and make up two seconds later. They stay mad, all is not forgiven, just like in the real world. Emotions are justified, discussed, validated, maybe they move on, but they atleast accept that things are not OK and that life is ugly sometimes.

Overall, I thought this was an entertaining YA read. It is more mystery than horror or thriller. I wanted more scare factor, but I liked it anyway. I really enjoyed the writing style and the plot. Overall, it felt a little long and I felt like I wanted to know more about the mythology and magical elements in the book. I wanted more about the Rock and more from the perspective of the Rock. I think the parts from the Rock's perspective were actually my favorite. Those chapters were extremely poetic and I really loved them.

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Review: As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This book will be published on January 2, 2018.

As You Wish is a coming of age story that takes place in the sleepy town of Madison, Nevada. Madison is on the outskirts of Las Vegas and Area 51, but nothing really happens there, except everyone in the town of Madison gets to make a wish on their 18th birthday. The gift of wishing is a well kept secret amongst those living in the town of Madison because no one ever really leaves Madison, and if they do they tend to come back. Main character Eldon is about to turn 18 and make his wish, only he doesn't know what he wants. He is obnoxious, self-centered, and very immature. He blames all his problems on everyone else and the wishes they've made. His attitude made the books hard to read sometimes because you just wanted grow up. Then again there weren't very many likable characters in the book. Most of the wishes were shallow and self serving like making yourself better looking or the most talented at something. Then again when you are 18 and don't know any better what would you wish for? Probably something shallow and self-serving. Each person of the town has to live with the consequences of their wish, some good and some bad. Eldon starts to research wishes and their consequences as his wish day approaches only to find out that most people's wishes didn't exactly have the effect they'd intended. Some people learned to live with their wishes, while others are miserable. Eldon only sees the bad that has come from wishing. Part of Eldon's problem is that the whole town is obsessed with wishing, everyone wants to know what you are going to wish for, and everyone is telling you what to wish for, and his parents are telling him what to wish for because their wishes didn't work out for them. Eldon hasn't had an easy time of it as his 18th birthday approaches, some of it is his own fault, some of it is not his fault at all. Eldon never takes ownership of his own actions, he just blames everyone else for being angry and mean to everyone. There are plenty of lessons to be learned from reading this, but they took way to long to develop for my liking. Eldon is the epitome of flawed.

In the end this book was just OK for me. I didn't connect with the characters or the story. It just felt very immature to me, as an adult reader who likes YA I find that is a problem at times. While the dialog may be realistic as if it were coming from high schoolers, there were some very immature comments in the dialog between characters that did not appeal to me, and I'm sure people will find them hurtful if not harmful. That is not what I want my kids thinking is OK, so I don't want them reading it in the books they read. I did appreciate that there was atleast one character that was trying to stop it, even thought not very forcefully. The premise is interesting enough and kept me interested.

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Review: Sourdough by Robin Sloan

Sourdough by Robin Sloan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this book was extremely charming. It has its quirky. weird parts, but I really loved it. I loved all the technical references and all the baking information. I honestly wish someone would gift me a magical bread starter. I love to bake but can't make bread, it is my nemesis. I have a background in engineering and robotics, so I loved that part just as much.

I used this for my challenge prompt to read a book about food, only 7 more books to go for 2017.  I struggled to find a book for this category.  Sourdough came up as a recommendation several times, but it wasn't until I saw a review by PeruseProject on YouTube that I actually wanted to give it a shot.  It never appealed to me until Regan reviewed it as a weird, yet charming book and I 100% agree with her.  I can relate to Lois in several ways, which made me like this even more.

Lois Clary is a gifted, young computer programmer. She was recruited from her auto manufacturing job in Michigan, to work in in the cutting edge start-up disctrict of San Francisco. In California she works endless hours as a robotics programmer trying to solve big problems, living on nutritive gel called Slurry, barely sleeping, and really not finding satisfaction in what she is doing. One night she finds a menu for Clement Street Soup and Sourdough, and orders spicy soup and sourdough bread. The exotic food comforts Lois and it is all she eats, when she doesn't eat Slurry that is. Lois gets to know the 2 brothers that operate Clement Street just as they have to close their shop and leave the US. They gift her baking supplies and a crock of their bread started and instruct her on how to keep it alive. Lois decides that she'd going to try her hand at making bread from the starter, so she does some homework and buys some cooking supplies online. After struggling to get it right, Lois finds success in making sourdough bread with the magical starter. She starts out just making bread for herself, then she starts sharing with neighbors, and before she knows it she's selling her delicious bread to the chef at work and has a market stall at a weird farmers market. Lois quickly finds herself teaching a robotic arm how to make bread, and learns that her starter is not just any old sourdough starter. Eventually Lois must choose between her job as a programmer or her job as a baker, she also has to deal with the tempermental starter that kind of has a mind of its own.

I really enjoyed this. I loved Sloan's writing. The mysterious backstory about the starter was really interesting as were all of the characters. I ended the book wanting a "double spicy", or atleast some sourdough bread.