The Saturday Review - 7 September 2019

This week I'm tackling the next few books I read over the summer... what have you read lately bookdragons?

The Witches of BlackBrook
by Tish Thawer

Publisher: Amber Leaf Publishing

Release Date: June 23, 2015

Genre: Paranormal, Witches, Fiction

Blurb

Through space and time, sisters entwined. Lost then found, souls remain bound.

Three sisters escape the Salem witch trials when the eldest casts a spell that hurtles their souls forward through time. After centuries separated, fate has finally reunited them in the present day.

One the healer, one the teacher, and one the deceiver.

Will their reunion return their full powers, or end their souls journey forever?

Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I first saw this book on bookstagram so the cover was what first drew my interest enough to look it up on Amazon.

Summary/Tagline: n/a
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟.5 I liked the characters overall, but at times they felt a little flat. I would have liked more development into the side characters motivation and their personality. 

Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟 Again, there isn't as much fleshing out as I would like. It's a small town and you get that homey vibe but you don't really learn much about the town except for the few places the main character goes to: home, work, and another character's house then to her hometown in Massachusetts (which felt like the most developed setting of all).

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 The plot wasn't bad. It was easy to follow, taking you between the main character's past and present and showing you hints into the other character's thoughts and feelings. It was a quick read. Not the best book I've ever read, but not the worst either. Will I read book two? Probably. I'll definitely give the series more time to woo me into falling in love.

Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 3.63 of 5 Stars!

My Rating:

🌟🌟 🌟🌟

3.63 of 5 Stars!

Wildcard

by Marie Lu

Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

On: September 18, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Blurb:

Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo's new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she's always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side.

Determined to put a stop to Hideo's grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone's put a bounty on Emika's head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn't all that he seems--and his protection comes at a price.

Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?

Review:

Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I love the dark cover of Wildcard in contrast with the white cover of Warcross. They compliment each other well on the shelf. 

Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟 "It's time for a rematch." - This made me think the bulk of the plot would be Emika vs. Hideo so I was a bit surprised with the way the plot turned.

Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I love how Emika and Hideo grow in this novel. We see Hideo go from the grieving brother who created Warcross to a monster who thinks he's saving the world, a lovestruck man who wonders if Emika is right to the cold exterior he shows the world and back again. Emika meanwhile struggles to learn how to accept help from others, to lean on and depend on them. Her teammates are back in this one and as awesome as they were in Warcross, but this time helping Emika out on a whole new front. And then there are the enigmatic Zero and his crew. Are they friend or foe? What do they really want?
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 From the inside of Warcross to the tech-savvy city of Tokyo and the dark underbelly of the Warcross blackmarket Lu has once again drawn readers into a mesmerizing world that they wish they could experience first hand while also cautioning that with every benefit of a tech-centered world, comes an even more costly downside.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5 I think I loved this one more than Warcross. It delves deeper into Sasuke's disappearance and what became of him which tugged at my heart. And for Emika, what started out as a job to find a hacker has thrown her into a more dangerous game of cat and mouse than she's ever endured before, uncovering secrets and making her wonder who she can trust and what people will do to have absolute control. 

Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.3 of 5 Stars!

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟

4.3 of 5 Stars!

The Afterlife of Holly Chase 

by Cynthia Hand

Published by: HarperTeen

On: October 24, 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Holiday, Retelling, Fantasy, Paranormal

Blurb:

On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she'd become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.

She didn't.

And then she died.

Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.

Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.

But this year, everything is about to change. . . .

Review:

Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 The Afterlife of Holly Chase has a simple, elegant cover that I really loved. It's not so in your face paranormal or christmasy as you would expect from the blurb.

Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟 “Every Scrooge Deserves a Second Chance"  - This promises the premise of almost every Christmas Carol retelling ever until you read the blurb.

Characters: 🌟🌟🌟 All hail the annoying mean girl who hasn't quite learned her lesson, add in an assistant that is annoyingly perky, a bunch of Christmas loving coworkers, and a bad boy who isn't bad at all and you have the characters in Holly Chase. As a protagonist, Holly is a bit of a self-pitying downer with an attitude problem.
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟 New York City, a secret organization, Christmas-time. 

Story: 🌟🌟🌟 This book wasn't too bad, but it was predictable and a bit annoying to read at times due to Holly's personality. 

Overall: 🌟🌟🌟 3.2 of 5 Stars!

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟

3.2 of 5 Stars!

A Simple Favor

by Darcey Bell

Published by: Harper

On: March 21, 2017

Genre: Fiction, Thriller

Blurb:

She’s your best friend.
She knows all your secrets.
That’s why she’s so dangerous.
A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.

It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time.

But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over.

Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it seems.

A Simple Favor is a remarkable tale of psychological suspense—a clever and twisting free-fall of a ride filled with betrayals and reversals, twists and turns, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge. Darcey Bell masterfully ratchets up the tension in a taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing story that holds you in its grip until the final page.

Review:

Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I have the movie tie-in cover of this book (of course) and I love the retro 1950s vibe to it. 

Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 "She’s your best friend. She knows all your secrets. That’s why she’s so dangerous." - Ooh, I love the sound of this!

Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 The first rule going into this book... trust no one. Both Stephanie and Emily are mothers that on the outside have enviable lives - Steph is the perfect mother, Emily has it all - perfect husband, adorable son, fantastic job in the fashion industry - but both have dark secrets simmering under the surface. Let the games begin.
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 The worldbuilding is less about a setting or a location in this book, but the feeling. An idyllic Connecticut town perfect for raising a family yet close enough to commute into NYC, an old cabin in Michigan, a decaying manor hiding the secrets of the past. 
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Step right up for unreliable narrators with twisted secrets, murder, lust, and fraud. This book will make you ask "WTF?" as you stay up late into the night binging to reach a crazy twist and an unbelievable end. 

Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.4 of 5 Stars!

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟

4.4 of 5 Stars!

Imposters

by Scott Westerfeld

Published by: Scholastic Press

On: September 11, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Dystopian

Blurb:

The spellbinding, New York Times bestselling series-starter, now $4.99 for a limited time only.

Frey and Rafi are inseparable . . . two edges of the same knife. But Frey's very existence is a secret.

Frey is Rafi's twin sister-and her body double. Their powerful father has many enemies, and the world has grown dangerous as the old order falls apart. So while Rafi was raised to be the perfect daughter, Frey has been taught to kill. Her only purpose is to protect her sister, to sacrifice herself for Rafi if she must.

When her father sends Frey in Rafi's place as collateral in a precarious deal, she becomes the perfect impostor -- as poised and charming as her sister. But Col, the son of a rival leader, is getting close enough to spot the killer inside her. As the deal starts to crumble, Frey must decide if she can trust him with the truth . . . and if she can risk becoming her own person.

With Impostors, master storyteller Scott Westerfeld returns with a new series set in a world full of twists and turns, rebellion and intrigue, where any wrong step could be Frey's last.

Review:

Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Luckily for me I held out on starting this series long enough to grab the paperback that will match the cover of Shatter City. Unfortunately the $4.99 sticker is not a sticker and cannot be removed. :(

Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 "Everything She Tells You Is A Lie." - I do like the sound of that, it makes me want to find out more.

Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5 I loved Frey, she's such a bada$$. Then there's Rafi, who we don't see as much of but you can tell she's a little unhinged which is bound to have consequences down the line. Their father is a monster, there's no doubt about that and you wish someone, anyone would take him out. Then there's Col, who at times I loved and others found annoying. Insert the secondary characters to make the story awesome and viola!
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 This was my first book by Scott Westerfeld. I haven't read the series that this series is a spinoff of. But even so, it was easy to understand the world that Frey, Rafi, and Col live in, the differences in their cities and the rest of the cities in the world, from the vibrant, inviting Victoria to the cold technological city Frey and Rafi grew up in to the neutral city of Paz and the refuge of the caldera.  
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I usually don't like dystopian novels but I devoured this book, intrigued by the story of twins who couldn't be more different and Frey's desire to embrace her own identity in a world on the verge of war.  

Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.5 of 5 Stars!

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

4.5 of 5 Stars!

House of Salt and Sorrows

by Erin A. Craig

Published by: Delacorte

On: August 6, 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling

Blurb:

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.

Review:

Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 This cover is so pretty! Definitely a cover buy for me!

Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 "In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed." - Your first clue that this is a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling

Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I loved Annaleigh and her sisters, though they are all so different. Their stepmother, Morella seems like this sweet thing that just wants their father wrapped around her finger but you can tell as you're reading that there is a dark undercurrent in their somewhere. And the girls' poor father - first losing his wife then four of his daughters in quick succession. Can't a man catch a break without being manipulated by his new wife?
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 The worldbuilding is fantastic in this book, dark and atmospheric. A manor by the sea that everyone believes is cursed, a unique set of gods that the characters believe in and the rituals that accompany them, the clothing, and everything is so well plotted the reader will feel transported. 
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book but I was completely blown away. 

Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.6 of 5 Stars!

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

4.6 of 5 Stars!