Hardcover

Sunrise on the Reaping

by Suzanne Collins

(5 / 5)

Sunrise on the Reaping was a worthy addition to one of my all-time favorite book series. Rather than reading the book quickly, I found myself taking it slow, wanting time to process and take it all in. I was delighted by all ways it tied in with both the original Hunger Games trilogy and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It was a bridge between the books that I didn’t even know I needed. Anyone familiar with the series goes into this book with a good idea of how it’ll end, but that doesn’t take away from the impact it had. There’s some important messages here that were really thought-provoking.

Book Lovers

By Emily Henry

(5 / 5)

I enjoyed reading this book so much. The witty banter and comebacks between Nora and Charlie had me literally laughing out loud more than I have while reading a book in a long time. The characters had a lot of depth, with their first impressions barely scratching the surface. This book faces some heavy topics at times, but I enjoyed the growth of the characters and relationships with each other. As a book lover, I enjoyed the glimpses into the book publishing world, plus the quips about small town romance tropes when this was indeed a small town romance itself. My only regret is that it took me so long to finally get around to reading this book!

January 15, 2025 by danimae1981 Fiction Hardcover Romance 0

The Blood Traitor

The Prison Healer #3

By Lynette Noni

(4.5 / 5)

The Blood Traitor is the third book of the trilogy, The Prison Healer, and it didn’t disappoint. I really liked the sense of adventure this book had, exploring so much more of this fictional world than we did in the previous books. The different kinds of relationships that developed between characters were interesting and sometimes surprising. There was a good amount of action and drama, keeping me engaged and wanting to read to the end. After the previous books, I’d come to expect some interesting twists along the way, so there were some things I suspected before they were actually revealed, but I still managed to get surprised too. This was a worthy ending to a series that I really enjoyed reading and hope to read again in the future.

June 26, 2024 by danimae1981 Fantasy Fiction Hardcover Young Adult 0

The Gilded Cage

The Prison Healer #2

By Lynette Noni

(4 / 5)

After how The Prison Healer ended, I went into the 2nd book of the series with the thought “I have a feeling this won’t end well.” Once again, we are following Kiva, joined by some familiar characters from the last book and some new ones as well. I definitely had some strong feelings and intuitions about some of the characters that turned out to be validated along the way. Kiva faces some tough decisions in this book, and honestly, I sometimes was cringing at her choices, even though it’s also what I was expecting. Over the course of the book, I made a lot of theories about reveals that might happen later in the story – some of those turned out to be right, some not quite, and a couple complete surprises along the way. The Gilded Cage was a book that thoroughly kept my interest, and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next in the 3rd book!

June 23, 2024 by danimae1981 Fantasy Fiction Hardcover Young Adult 0

The Last Bloodcarver

By Vanessa Le

Coming March 19th!

After reading a 2nd time, I’ve decided to up my rating to (5 / 5).

In the city of Theumas, 18-year-old Nhika has been completely on her own for the past 6 years. She must hide the fact that she’s a heartsooth, with the ability to heal by direct touch, but also feared because the ability can be used to hurt or kill. Her people have essentially been wiped out, and she may just be the last of her kind. When she is captured and sold by black market “butchers,” she is introduced into a different part of society with its own dark secrets.

I really enjoyed reading The Last Bloodcarver, which is the first book in a duology. This book was written so well, it’s hard to believe that it’s the author’s debut novel! Nhika, the main character, was interesting and felt relatable. Her abilities as a heartsooth/bloodcarver were unique yet explained in a way that felt intuitive and understandable. I was easily pulled into this world, which has both a fantasy and technological feel to it. Bonus points for the map included at the beginning at the book, which helped visualize the city and how it was laid out. I really enjoyed the various side characters with their own stories and quirks. With a possible murder to solve, it gives this book a bit of a whodunit feel, and while some things were easy enough to guess, others came as a surprise. This is a book I would read again, and I definitely plan to read the 2nd book when it becomes available!

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and BookishFirst for the free copy of The Last Bloodcarver! All opinions in my review are completely my own.

March 18, 2024 by danimae1981 Fantasy Fiction Hardcover Young Adult 0

A Pretty Implausible Premise

By Karen Rivers

(4 / 5)

On the surface this looks like just a YA romance, but it really takes an emotional journey through guilt, loss, and forgiveness. Both of the main characters are going through their own versions of this. Hattie’s mom left when she was just a child, and now she has given up on competitive swimming after a little boy drowned during her lifeguard watch. Presley’s twin brother was killed in a car accident that left him with injuries that ended his figure skating career and put their father in prison. There’s also parallels between Hattie and Presley’s stories and a book that Hattie is obsessed with, which we are able to read excerpts of throughout the book – a story within the story. I really liked both of the main characters. I think they felt realistic and relatable.

The book did feel a bit slow, especially at the beginning. About the first 3rd of the book is just the first day of school, and while it was setting up the backstories and framework, I could see some readers losing interest in this part. The ending of the book is much faster paced. For me personally, the book kept my attention, and I was able to read almost the entire book in a day. The romance wasn’t quite as “insta-love” as the description made it sound, which I was actually glad about.

I received a free copy of A Pretty Implausible Premise through the Amazon Vine program, but all opinions in my review are uninfluenced and my own.

October 10, 2023 by danimae1981 Fiction Hardcover Romance Young Adult 0

The Name Drop

By Susan Lee

Coming soon on September 12, 2023!

(5 / 5)

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to read the first few chapters of The Name Drop, and I felt like this was a book I could love. Luckily, I won a free early copy of the book from the publisher through BookishFirst. All opinions expressed in my review are my own.

The Name Drop was a book that I really enjoyed and found hard to put down. In fact, I started it one night before going to bed and finished it the next day.

I enjoyed the main characters, Elijah and Jessica, who both happen to have the same Korean name. While the circumstances of them getting “switched” at the airport seemed improbable, I went into the book knowing this and it sets up a very interesting situation for the characters. I like that the characters felt real. Even though they came from very different backgrounds, they each had an awareness about themselves and their faults. And they were able to help each other through the very different lives they were leading over the summer.

I also found it interesting how the book addressed the fact that wealth (or lack of it) and gender can greatly affect one’s ability to succeed, especially in Korean culture. It was nice to see both the main characters and side characters face this issue and grow from it.

Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read. After reading this book, I would love to read more from Susan Lee.

August 23, 2023 by danimae1981 Fiction Hardcover Romance Young Adult 0

A Multitude of Dreams

By Mara Rutherford

Coming soon on August 29, 2023

(4 / 5)

A Multitude of Dreams was an interesting blend of genres. It’s a young adult book with a post-apocalyptic dystopia feel mixed with fantasy, action and a dash of romance along the way.

The story follows the points-of-view of 2 characters, Seraphina and Nico. In the aftermath of a terrible disease, both characters are living very different lives from what they were before. Seraphina is Jewish, and lived in an area where Jewish people were separated from the rest of the population – this book actually dives into the persecution of Jews, much like what happened in real history. When the king’s favorite daughter, Imogen, dies from the disease, the other princesses take Seraphina to live as the princess since she looks remarkably similar. For 4 years she has been stuck in the castle as the king will not allow anyone to leave. Meanwhile, Nico lived a life with some status though his mother. But with his entire family dead from the sickness, he now works as a servant for a nobleman named Crane. On the surface Crane seems like a good enough man, but soon Nico starts to suspect that things are not quite what they seem.

Several chapters in, the book takes a turn into a more paranormal/fantasy feel, which I didn’t necessarily see coming, but it adds an interesting twist to the story that gives it a sinister feel. It also leads to a lot of thrills and action.

Overall, this book was an enjoyable read that kept me engaged and wanting to read more. I liked both of the main characters and felt they were well-developed and learn a lot about themselves over the course of the story. The world created in the book was interesting and immersive.

Thank you to Inkyard Press for the free copy of this book, which I won through a BookishFirst raffle. All opinions expressed in my review are completely my own.

August 16, 2023 by danimae1981 Fantasy Fiction Hardcover Young Adult 0

All That It Ever Meant

By Blessing Musariri

(5 / 5)

All That It Ever Meant is a complex story that really made me think and almost had a philosophical feel to it. Honestly, when asked to describe the book I was reading, I had to respond that I wasn’t really sure, since it obviously had a deeper meaning that would take reading the whole book to completely understand. At the surface, it was a story about a father and his children on a trip to his homeland, Zimbabwe, several months after the mother died. It is obvious this is a family in mourning and trying to heal after a terrible tragedy.

Mati, the middle child in age (14), is the narrator, but it’s almost as if she’s a fly on the wall, describing what is happening to everyone else while being very passive about herself. Interweaved through the story of the family’s trip in Zimbabwe, Mati seems to struggle with telling the story of her mother, past, and something that happened, bringing up bits and pieces out of order but avoiding the true core of what she’s trying to say. Throughout she is joined by Meticais, someone who can only be seen/heard by her but seems to be a guide helping her process all of this, encouraging her to tell her story.

I’ll admit that at the beginning of the book I felt like I was a bit lost in the swirling mind of a teen, jumping from one thought to the next. But the book kept me reading and thinking as the pieces of this puzzle slowly came together. There were multiple times where I had to stop to process paragraphs that felt especially enlightening, not just for this story but for life in general. Over the course of the story, I had a lot of my own theories about what the core of the story really was – there were lots of hints along the way, but it was hard to put together all the pieces in a way that made sense. In the end, the outcome wasn’t at all what I expected, but it was like finding the missing piece to a puzzle that made it all come together.

This was truly a book you weren’t meant to fully understand until the end, but when you get there, you see it for the masterpiece that it is.

I received a free copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program, but all opinions are my own.

March 8, 2023 by danimae1981 Fiction Hardcover Young Adult 0

How You Grow Wings

By Rimma Onoseta

(4 / 5)

TW: Multiple instances of abuse

How You Grow Wings follows 2 sisters, Cheta (17) and Zam (16), who have grown up in an abusive household. Throughout the story both sisters are learning how to live life outside of their parents’ home, but in very different ways: Zam is taken in by her rich aunt and uncle, while Cheta is poor and trying to live on her own. The story mostly takes place in Nigeria, and the book immerses you in the languages, culture and obstacles in that country. The book really dives into and explores a lot of difficult topics, such as abuse, sexism, classism, and colonial influences on culture.

A central theme in this book was exploring relationships between people, often relationships that were strained or difficult. It was interesting to watch as multiple characters grew and gained a better understanding of those around them. Zam especially showed a lot of growth over the course of the book.

I’m rating this book 3.5 stars since it didn’t hold my interest as much as I hoped it would, but I think it was just a matter of personal preference – I tend to enjoy faster-paced books with more action. The writing is good so it earns being rounded up to 4 stars.

I received a free copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. All opinions are my own.

February 17, 2023 by danimae1981 Fiction Hardcover Young Adult 0