I haven’t been reading much amidst the craziness of the holidays, but I’m hoping to dive back in soon. As always, I have lots of books on my wishlist so I got a new batch for Christmas. 😍🥰
Have you read any of these books? If so, let me know what you thought about them. What books did you get for the holidays?
By Gillian French
(4 / 5)
Possible TW: Characters in the book recall abuse that happened in their past.
Sugaring Off is a young adult book about a girl named Owl and follows her through her family’s maple syrup season. The book is split into 4 parts, each represented by a different grade of syrup. The book turned out to be far more complex than I expected it to be, exploring a large range of topics that really gave the story depth and some things to learn along the way:
making maple syrup
being hard of hearing/deaf
living in a very rural place
people with Native American heritage
woodland wildlife, in particular a family of foxes
history of abuse
learning to stand up for yourself
The book has a bit of a slow feel to it, which I felt matched the rural setting it was in, and it still kept me engaged and reading for long periods. I ended up reading the whole book over the course of two days. I enjoyed the wonderful descriptions, especially about nature. Along the course of story there’s romance, action and drama, so it was a nice blend.
My biggest complaint about this book is that the author tends to drop the pronouns at the beginnings of sentences, so it affected the flow of the book at times for me. This might just be the author’s writing style, and it certainly didn’t keep me from wanting to continue the book, but some people may be put off by this.
Overall I enjoyed reading this book and glad I gave it a chance. I thought Owl was an interesting character and enjoyed seeing her grow over the course of the story.
I received a free copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program, but all opinions I have provided are my own.
By Charlaine Harris
(5 / 5)
The Serpent in Heaven is the 4th book in the Gunnie Rose series, which takes place in an alternate history where the United States has fallen and been replaced by multiple smaller countries. While it probably can be read without reading the previous books, I highly recommend reading them first. I really love the mixing of genres in this series: fantasy/magic, western, alternate history, action, mystery, and romance.
Unlike the first 3 books that are from Lizbeth’s perspective, this book follows Felicia, Lizbeth’s younger half-sister. While I initially missed following Lizbeth and Eli, I enjoyed this new perspective, which gave us a lot more insight into Felicia and her background. Since Felicia is around 15 years old, this book has a “younger” feel to it than the previous books, but I don’t think it took away from the story at all. The book is engaging with plenty of action and good flow that kept it hard to put down. I’m hoping this series will continue since I have really enjoyed it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the free review copy of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Hi, I’m Danita
mother, reader, reviewer, geocacher, hiker, crafter, LGBTQ+ ally
