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Providence: A Novel
Providence: A Novel
Caroline Kepnes | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fans of Stranger Things will love this! SO clever and Unique (0 more)
If you don't like love stories, might not be your cup of tea, but I'm not and I still enjoyed it! (0 more)
Super Fun Read!
Wow! This was my first Caroline Kepnes book and let me tell you - it will NOT be my last! I loved this book, I flew through it and did not want it to end, and what a fun and unique story! I'm a HUGE Stranger Things fan, and this reminded me a bit of that - part sci-fi/fantasy/horror, but also part mystery/detective thriller - so many things I love all mixed in to one really clever tale. In the end, it's really a fun journey across time between two star crossed lovers - desperate to be together in a masterfully crafted journey of horrible circumstances that may forever keep them apart.

You get sucked in right away... Jon and Chloe are high school teens, the best of friends, and you assume, in time, they'll be together forever as you can see how much they love one another. Then, one morning Jon gets kidnapped and everything changes. Something happened to him and we might never be able to see if him and Chloe will that next step and spend their lives together. The things that have happened to him, may keep them apart forever.

The coming-of-age part is really interesting here, because Jon misses so much he's forced to grow up when his body has already done so. And the duality of good vs. evil comes into play a lot - and what a struggle it is to keep the two separate, when their pull is almost beyond control. We also follow the story of Eggs, who is a pretty darn smart detective, obsessed with a case that haunts him. And we follow his own life, his struggle with family, and how he tries to put the pieces of his own life back together while it falls apart around him - as he tries to solve a really strange mystery.

There is a lot of HP Lovecraft reference in this book, including a yearly Lovecraft convention (he was from Providence). I've heard him referenced in several novels before but have never actually read his work. I think I just might have to check it out now. BUT it did not hinder the story at all if you aren't familiar with his work. I am not familiar, and I loved every minute of the book!

This book was so much fun - a bit peculiar in parts but seriously, a fun ride from start to finish. Thanks to NetGalley and Caroline Kepnes and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced copy to review.
  
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Watching Edie
Camilla Way | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Also find my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/watching-edie-by-camilla-way

NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK!

<b>TRIGGER WARNING: <spoiler>Rape</spoiler></b>

Firstly I’d like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for the opportunity to read this book in an exchange for a review.

<b><i>"... they do remain a part of us, those people who have hurt us very deeply, or who we have hurt, never letting us go, not entirely."</b></i>

This is the tale of a fractured friendship between two young ladies from broken families. Edie is popular and beautiful, Heather is awkward and shy. To begin with they seem to be the best of friends, but one night, something terrible happens that tears them apart. Fast forward 17 or so years and Edie is alone, working as a waitress and struggling to cope with new motherhood. Luckily, Heather steps out of Edie’s past and into her present, just at the right time to keep Edie afloat. But, something’s not right, there’s a darkness in their past that can’t be overlooked in the future.

From the get go, I thought this wasn’t going to be my sort of book, I’m not really into thrillers where the past and present are skipped between and an intense love story is the main focus. I tend to find them samey and cringey - the love of an 18 year old still haunting lives at the age of 33 just seems to only happen in novels. But, this one intrigued me a little more than the others have done. At 50% I started getting a little more excited at what was going to happen next. In the end, I actually got quite into the book, reading it in 24 hours.

Our two main characters of the novel, Edie and Heather, have really terrible stories attached to them and we can sympathise with them both, but it’s difficult to pick a side…. Let’s just say that what you’re thinking throughout the book may be completely turned on its head once the twist has come out.

There were aspects of this book that were very predictable and for a while the only reason I wanted to continue reading was because I wanted to know the full details of what happened that night at the quarry, so it had me more interested than <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1474373840">In a Dark, Dark Wood.</a> But then <b>BAM</b> we’re smacked with the truth of that awful night and we have to take the book and its characters in a whole new light. The twist in the novel is so far from what I was expecting it to be, it’s absolutely brutal in comparison to other novels with the same kind of plot.

I ended up really enjoying this after being so skeptical to begin with and I think it’s an excellent fast paced, twisty-turny read but I know it won’t be for everybody, it features too many dark subjects for all psychological thriller lovers to enjoy.
  
A Tale of Two Kingdoms (Knights of Black Swan #6)
A Tale of Two Kingdoms (Knights of Black Swan #6)
Victoria Danann | 2014 | Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The story of star-crossed lovers has been around for a while and if asked, most people would say that Romeo & Juliet is the most famous one. Well think again because Duff and Aelsong are about to take that crown! This story has been a long time coming as we met Duff and Aelsong in Book 2 (The Witch's Dream) but it is well worth the wait. Duff has decided that he has waited long enough and makes a plan to ensure that he and Aelsong are together. He enlists the help of some friends, new and old and along the way you get a glimpse of what the royal lives are like for both the Fae and the Elves. Are they really that different? How do you fight prejudice that is so ingrained no one can actually remember why it all started in the first place?

This is a romance primarily but it also deals with issues like prejudice, history, war and even all of the above in one family! This book does not disappoint on any level and the standard of Victoria Danann's writing just keeps on getting better. No, this isn't as long as the others and NO this definitely doesn't affect the quality. It just meant that I was able to sit and read this in one sitting with no interfering habits, like sleeping, getting in the way!

This is part of a series and I would highly recommend that you read them in order. As a taster, the first book - The Familiar Stranger - is FREE. Get this one, take a deep breath, enter another dimension and never look back.
 
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
April 10, 2021