This week has been a roller coaster. I am currently at home taking care of my 92 year old mother and this week was not a good one for her. We went to the doctor and got her fixed up, luckily what we thought might be a melanoma was just the results of a rash and she is on the way to healing.
After weird weather going from bright and sunny to raining it looks like we are in for at least a week of good weather so my computer should not have the issues it gets during inclement weather. I live in a small mountain town about an hour out of San Diego and the one thing I hate about living here is the fact that we have no broadband coverage. There is a rumor we might be getting it soon, so please keep your fingers crossed for me.
Enough about my wild week and on to what I read.
THE IMMORTALISTS by CHLOE BENJAMIN
If you knew the day you would die would it alter how you live your life? That is the question four siblings have to answer when they go to a gypsy in their youth who gives them the fateful news. The book follows the four as they enter their lives with the knowledge of their deaths.
I liked the way the author told each siblings story and then intertwined them as the book moved along. This is an interesting question and I found myself wondering how I would handle the knowledge of my impending doom. In a story which could have been very morose, the author breathes life into each characters tragic story.
While a little repetitive, I would still recommend this unusual tale.
THE CRUEL PRINCE by HOLLY BLACK
Jude was only seven when her parents were murdered and she and her sisters were taken to live in the world of Faerie. While happy there, Jude finds that being human in the Faerie world is not all it’s cracked up to be. When she is seventeen she wants to become a knight for the King and has to battle not only other challengers, but their common dislike for a mortal human.
I am not usually a fantasy reader, but have heard nothing but good things about this title and decided to give it a try. Happily, I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of magic with a little romance mixed in. I think the thing I don’t like about fantasy is the myriad of characters in every story, this one was easy to follow and didn’t have me writing up notes to know who was who.
I look forward to the next chapter in this series (The Wicked King).
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by L. CARROLL, illustrated by CAMILLE ROSE GARCIA
I have loved the Alice books since my childhood and read them many times, but when I saw the illustrations in this edition I simply had to have it in my collection. Garcia mixes the familiar story with macabre twists for a beautiful collection of art to accompany this ageless classic.
The illustrations match the bent stories Carroll created and make this a great addition for any collector of Alice In Wonderland or illustrated books.
WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT by APRIL GENEVIEVE TUCHOLKE
There is a villain.
There is a hero.
There is a liar.
This is the premise for this short tale of love and loss which takes place over a summer.
While I enjoyed the author’s writing style, I had a problem with such a simple tale which is something almost every story has. I mean if you just had a hero and a villain where would the excitement be?
I read the book in one sitting as it was pretty short and I think that is the way this one should be handled as it is pretty simple to figure out and if you gave yourself any time to think you might be let down.
Only an OK read for me.
DEATH BY COFFEE by ALEX ERICKSON
Krissy and Vicky decide to open up a Bookstore/Coffee Shop in the small town of Pine Hills. Things are slow on opening day until the obnoxious Brendon Lawyer takes his coffee to go, forever. What follows is your basic cozy mystery with Krissy using her talent with puzzles to figure out who murdered Mr. Lawyer. First in the Bookstore Café Mystery series.
Cozy Mysteries are my guilty pleasure as they are usually simple and very quick read. I enjoyed the characters and will probably return to this series; however, I found the romance part of the story to be a bit cliché and heavy handed. I hope the author finds his way to not make it clear that a male is writing this series as he had little finesse in showing how a woman falls in love.
THE HAZEL WOOD by MELISSA ALBERT
Seventeen year old Alice has spent most of her life on the road with her mother fleeing the bad luck which seems to always follow them. Alice’s grandmother wrote a book called The Hazel Wood which became a cult classic, but that is all Alice really knows about her. When her mom goes missing Alice must try to find her Grandmother and seek out the Hazel Wood in order to save both mom and her future.
This book had so much potential, but became amazingly boring once it entered the fantasy of the Hazel Wood. I don’t know if it was the writing or the story, but I found myself having to reread pages in order to follow what was happening. Sorry, cannot recommend this one.
Whew, that was a lot. I am still trying to get caught up on my Good Reads reviews which are very behind, hopefully tomorrow. Hope you all have a literally wonderful weekend and until tomorrow…
Good Night and Good Reading
Roseann's Musings 