The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
I’m a bit of mixed fan of the Shades of Magic. I love the world that was developed with it, and I love the way it treats magic. I am also a fan of the way the author V.E. Schwab writes—for the most part. What I was not always a huge fan of was some of the characters, who who had a tendency to rub me the wrong way. I very much liked Kell from the original trilogy and I loved the main antagonist. But […]
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox: A Novel by Maggie O’Farrell
Maggie O’Farrell is one of my favorite contemporary writers. She has a great talent for historical fiction (read Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait), and she excels at telling stories of women who find themselves in untenable positions. In The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Esme is a woman who, like Agnes in Hamnet and Lucrezia in The Marriage Portrait, is unusual in ways that make her seem dangerous to those around her. She does not conform to conventional traditional female roles and, as we know […]
The Night Guest: A Novel by Hildur Knutsdottir
If you’re looking for a book to set you on edge for spooky season, this is it. This short novel from Icelandic author Hildur Knutsdottir is a very quick read full of foreboding and tension. It’s also a commentary on women’s health and mental health and the stigma/lack of attention attached to both. The novel is narrated by the main character, a woman who I imagine to be in her 30s or so. Odunn (not sure if this is a correct spelling, since it seems […]
A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer: A SCYTHE Mystery Book 1 by Maxie Dara
This is a decent murder mystery featuring “grim reapers” and dead souls. It’s funny at times and includes some colorful support characters who clearly will play a big role in future novels in the series. I found it through a “Book Riot” recommendation. Book Riot is one of those book accounts on FB that pops up in my feed regularly and sometimes makes pretty good recommendations. A Grim Reaper’s Guide was good; not “wow, I can’t wait to read the rest of this series” good, […]
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Trigger Warning for abuse, violence, depression, suicidal thoughts, drug abuse, addiction I’ve had a copy of this book for years, knowing from its blurb and from what I’ve read about it that I would probably love it, but at 960 pages, it’s a brick and a bit intimidating to start. I finally decided to tackle it, and I finished it in less than a week. I would have finished within days if not for the pesky need for sleep and doing laundry and the like. […]
Good Girls Don’t Die by Christina Henry
Good Girls Don’t Die follows three characters—Celia, Allie, and Maggie—who find themselves in strange situations that seem to be the sort of scenarios you would find in novels that the characters happen to be fans of. Some background around what the characters read is provided at the start of each chapter, via message board-looking posts where book genres are discussed. The book is split into four parts, with the first three sections following one of the women as she tries to figure out what is […]
