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Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow!
Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow!
Donna Andrews | 2023 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Reality Show and Murder at Christmas
It’s the week before Christmas, but Meg has gotten roped into the reality show Blades of Glory! that is being filmed in the area. She just wanted to be working behind the scenes, but when someone attacks her mentor, who was supposed to be a competitor, she has to step in at the last minute as a contestant even though bladesmithing isn’t her specialty. But when another contestant is murdered, Meg begins to wonder if she is safe or if someone is out to do away with all their competition.

Yes, this is a Christmas entry in the series. While it may not quite seem like it from the teaser, we still get plenty of Christmas spirit on these pages, and I enjoyed some of the twists the set up brought us. It helps that we see many of the regular characters, and they are charming as always. I did find one of the other contestants to be very one dimensional. I get we weren’t supposed to like the guy, but did he have to be that much of a cliché? There is plenty going on to keep us reading, including set up, before the body drops, and I was never bored. However, the climax was weaker than it could have been, even though all our questions are answered. No matter when you read this entry, you’ll enjoy another Christmas with Meg.
  
Murder Most Trivial
Murder Most Trivial
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Can Jessica Answer the Killer Question Correctly?
When Jessica, Seth, Mort, and Mort’s wife, Maureen, take part in a trivia contest at the grand opening of an Irish themed pub in Cabot Cove, they never expect to win, much less that the prize will be a trip to Los Angeles to be contestants on Trivia Pub Live, a new live trivia game show. However, things take a deadly turn when one of the crew is found dead after the first day of tapping. Will the team be able to find a killer and stay in the competition?

My favorite episodes of the show were always the ones in Cabot Cove, but getting to have Seth and Mort on this trip was the next best thing. Plus, I recognized the niece we were visiting, which made it fun. The pacing was a little slow at the beginning between the set up and introducing a couple of sub-plots, but once the mystery kicked into gear, it was steady the rest of the way, with plenty of red herrings and clues before we reached the logical climax. And I really liked how the book ended. I kept the many suspects straight, although some of the lesser ones faded a bit into the background because they didn’t have that much page time. I also enjoyed the tour of mystery locations in Los Angeles. Overall, this is a fun addition to the long running tie-in series.
  
The Night Circus
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
4
8.1 (106 Ratings)
Book Rating
165 of 230
Book
The Night Circus
By Erin Morgenstern
⭐️⭐️

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

This took way too long to read I got seriously bored. I know this is a super popular book but for me I just didn’t like it. I fell into the hype I don’t know why I keep doing it to myself!
  
AM
A magic steeped in poison
Judy I lin | 2022
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Title: A Magic Steeped in Poison
Author: Judy I Lin

I love the cover it's so pretty. It's so sad the main characters sister is dying and if she wins the contest saving her sister would be a good prize like she wants. The fact she accidentally poisoned her and her mom must be hard to live with. I loved the quote that explained their beliefs in death: "Three souls contained within each of us separated from our bodies when we die. One returning to Earth, one to the air, and the final soul descending into the wheel of life." It's a nice way of putting how death works around this point is where I got hooked on the book. When she sold her only memory of her mom she had left in Nánjiāng was very sad. I agree with the makers of the game that they had to take a test to be let into the competition it'll help keep the cheaters out. I also loved how they gave them a price limit for the tea ingredients so make it more fair. The boy she met while shopping for ingredients my gut said don't trust him but later on he helped save the Princess from an assassin attempt. I don't want to go into more detail so I don't spoil the rest of the story for others but all around I loved this book and I would 100% reread it.