Book Review: A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan

 Title:  A Wedding in December

Author: Sarah Morgan

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Adult, Romance, Christmas

Pages: 366

Publisher: HQN

Year Published: 2019

Format: Audiobook

"In the snowy perfection of Aspen, the White family gathers for youngest daughter Rosie's whirlwind Christmas wedding. First to arrive are the bride's parents, Maggie and Nick. Their daughter's marriage is a milestone they are determined to celebrate wholeheartedly, but they are hiding a huge secret of their own: they are on the brink of divorce. After living apart for the last six months, the last thing they need is to be trapped together in an irresistibly romantic winter wonderland.

Rosie's older sister, Katie, is also dreading the wedding. Worried that impulsive, sweet-hearted Rosie is making a mistake, Katie is determined to save her sister from herself! If only the irritatingly good-looking best man, Jordan would stop interfering with her plans...

Bride-to-be Rosie loves her fiance but is having serious second thoughts. Except everyone has arrived- how can she tell them she's not sure? As the big day gets closer, and emotions run even higher, this is one White family Christmas none of them will ever forget."

My Rating: 4/5

This was supposed to be a book club book for December, but my hold at the library came early and I started it early to make sure that I wouldn't let my loan go to waste. Well, it was by far a quicker read than I anticipated. This story follows three women, Maggie, Katie and Rosie, a mother and two daughters who are at vastly different times in their lives. There is Maggie who is entering a stage in her relationship that she never anticipated and we follow as she pretends to still be content in her relationship. We follow Katie after a traumatic event and deciding where she wants to go next in her life, and Rosie as she explores her doubts and independence. I enjoyed Maggie and Katie the most, I found them the most relatable. I will say that this story is very much hallmark Christmas movie with a few more sex scenes. So if that is what you are looking for this time of year I would strongly recommend. The men in these stories are also pretty good, although their traits do blend together a little bit (all nice, respectful dudes). 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Reverie by Ryan La Sala

 Title: Reverie

Author: Ryan La Sala

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBT

Pages: 397

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Year Published: 2019

Format Audiobook

"Inception meets The Magicians in the most imaginative YA debut of the year!

All Kane Montgomery knows for certain is that the police found him half-dead in the river. He can't remember how he got there, what happened after, and why his life seems so different now. And it's not just Kane who's different, the world feels off, reality itself seems different.

As Kane pieces together clues, three almost-strangers claim to be his friends and the only people who can truly tell him what's going on. But as he and the others are dragged into unimaginable worlds that materialize out of nowhere- the gym warps into a subterranean temple, a historical home nearby blooms into a Victorian romance rife with scandal and sorcery- Kane realizes that nothing in his life is an accident. And when a sinister force threatens to alter reality for good, they will have to do everything they can to stop it before it unravels everything they know. 

This wildly imaginative debut explores what happens when the secret worlds that people hide within themselves come to light."

My Rating: 1/5

I just don't understand the enjoyment that some are finding from this story. Yes, there are LGBTQ characters, but the plot is all over the place, the characters are not well described/laid out. And I honestly just don't think that the villain just wasn't what I needed it to be. Villianizing someone in drag just didn't feel right for me. I didn't think that the idea behind the book was bad, it just needed either more time to develop relationships with the characters, and a build-up to the world, or it needed to have fewer characters. It was just trying to do too much for what it was.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

 Title: One for the Money

Author: Janet Evanovich

Series/Standalone: Stephanie Plum Series (Book #1)

Genre: Adult Fiction, Mystery

Pages: 320

Publisher: Griffin

Year Published: 1994

Format: Audiobook

"You've lost your job as a department store lingerie buyer, your car's been repossessed, and most of your furniture and small appliances have been sold off to pay last month's rent. Now the rent is due again. And you live in New Jersey. What do you do?

If you're Stephanie Plum, you become a bounty hunter. But not just a nickel-and-dime bounty hunter; you go after the big money. That means a cop gone bad. And not just any cop. She goes after Joe Morelli, a disgraced former vice cop who is also the man who took Stephanie's virginity at age 16 and then wrote details on a bathroom wall. With pride and rent money on the line, Plum plunges headlong into her first case, one that pits her against ruthless adversaries- people who'd rather kill than lose. 

In Stephanie Plum, Evanovich has created a resourceful and humorous character who stands apart from the pack of gritty female detectives."

My Rating:  3.75/5

This book reminds me of something that someone my mom's age would have read in a book club when I was a kid. It's filled with humour, there is a hot ex-cop on the run, a woman trying to piece together her life and a mystery. What more could you want? I would say that I wish so many stereotypes weren't fulfilled, but due to the year it was published I am not surprised. I think that this book completes its main purpose, it was entertaining and fun, not too deep. I plan to continue reading this series when I need a lighthearted, fun read.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Review: Saga Vol. 8 by Brain K. Vaughan

 Title: Saga Vol. 8

Author: Brian K. Vaughan

Artist: Fiona Staples

Series/Standalone: Saga Series (Volume 8)

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Pages: 146

Publisher: Image Comics

Year Published: 2017

Format: Paperback Copy (Own It)

"After the traumatic events of the War for Phang, Hazel, her parents and their surviving companions embark on a life changing adventure at the westernmost edge of the universe."

My Rating: 5/5

Every time I pick up one of these graphic novels, I'm always entertained and enjoy the content. I will say that this one touched on a few things that some might not agree with (Pro-Choice), just as a warning. I have a feeling though that most people who have made it this far through the series are fairly liberal in their views. The ever changing setting in this series is so satisfying to read about, as you are never sure where the plot will go. I love our characters and I look forward to continuing on with the series. I know that I"m only one volume behind now and hope to pick it up as soon as libraries here reopen. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

 Title: The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Author: Heather Morris

Series/Standalone: The Tattooist of Auschwitz Series

Genre: Historical Fiction, Adult, Romance

Pages: 262

Publisher: Harper

Year Published: 2018

Format: Paperback Copy (Own It)

First Line: "Lale tries not to look up."

"This beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov- an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity.

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tatowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism- but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, Prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in the first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her. 

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful recreation of Lale and Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

My Rating: 5/5

I have a bit of trouble rating things that are based on true stories so let me explain this star rating a little bit. I think that this book is so unique for a book based during the Holocaust and especially in Auschwitz-Birkenau. I think that while you're reading you are interested in what's going around Lale, but you're also interested in the romance and survival. I felt that the horrors in this book were placed in an interesting way. You would be reading and feeling a certain way about the two main characters and then you'd be reminded once again of what they are struggling to survive through, or what they are witnessing every day. I am interested in reading about Cilka and her life in the companion to this book, as you're not sure until the end of this book how some things play out (and even then not fully). I would recommend to anyone interested in historical fiction or biographies (as it is based on a true story). 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

 Title: Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Classic, Fiction

Pages: 273

Publisher: Penguin

Year Published: 1818

Format: Audiobook

"Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. but his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley near Byron's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity.

bas on the third edition of 1831, this volume contains all the revisions Mary Shelley made her story, as well as her 1831 introduction and Percy Bysshe Shelley's preface to the first edition. This revised edition includes as appendices a select collation of the texts of 1818 and 1831 together with 'A Fragment' by Lord Byron and Dr. John Polidori's 'The Vampyre: A Tale'."

My Rating: 3.5/5

I listened to the audiobook for this and I feel like that might have been a disservice to myself. I just wasn't able to focus in on some of the aspects that I know are important to the story. I also feel that because I knew so much going in I wasn't surprised by the turns this story took (it's hard not to be spoiled about something that came out in 1818). That being said the atmosphere that is written in this story is what truly captured me. The idea of travelling the world and being followed adds to the horror elements. That being said, I plan to reread this with a physical copy and hope to find that I enjoy it more through that format.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

 Title: The Woman in Cabin 10

Author: Ruth Ware

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Adult

Pages: 341
Publisher: Scout Press

Year Published: 2016

Format: Hardcover (Library Copy)

First Line: "In my dream, the girl was drifting far, far below the crashing waves and the cries of the gulls in the cold sunless depths of the North Sea."

"Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo's stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo's desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong."

My Rating: 2/5

This book just isn't quite what I want from thrillers/mysteries. I need something a little more unpredictable. And while I didn't guess exactly what was going to happen I wasn't surprised when it did happen. I need a crazy twist, something out of left field that I didn't see coming, but that can line up to make itself believable at the final reveal. I also think that this book struggled with pacing the first half of the book went on for a while without major major plot points and then the middle had all the twists, while the end only held 1 or 2. I did think that the author's descriptions of the atmosphere through throughout the story were extremely strong and set the mood for what was going on around the main character. I am curious about her other works and plan to read something else by her in the future, although it will not be immediately. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny