Search

Search only in certain items:

True North (Yule Lads #1)
True North (Yule Lads #1)
TA Moore | 2023 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
TRUE NORTH is the first book in the Yule Lads, and this is not a Hallmark story!

It is intricate and intriguing, but I always felt as though I wasn't getting the full picture. It is fast-paced and non-stop, including the relationship between Dylan and Somerset. This is definitely something I want more of, as I just didn't feel as though I had enough.

If the aim was to keep the reader in the dark, along with Dylan, so you learn at the same time as him, then it worked. I kept reading in the hope I would understand more of what was going on.

This was an absorbing story that I look forward to reading more of.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Dec 9, 2023
  
I Have Some Questions For You
I Have Some Questions For You
Rebecca Makkai | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I didn’t quite know what to make of this novel. It’s a true crime style story, that reads as literary fiction, and the mystery just went on too long. There were a lot of issues to deal with - it was just too busy. I couldn’t even prioritise the order of the storylines, it was as though they were all thrown at the book. What I like about a good crime story is usually the ‘tightness’ of the storyline, and this just didn’t do that. The characters would just deal with one thing, and suddenly something else would be thrown into the mix. It really did test my concentration levels!!

I loved Rebecca Makkai’s previous novel, and I’d had high hopes for this. Will I read her next book? Yes, I probably will - I still remember The Great Believers and know that she has written something I’ve really enjoyed. Just not this book.
  
I knew from the description that I was going to love this novel, and I wasn’t wrong. I love reading stories about faes so I was immediately attracted to the fantasy of the story. What I wasn’t expecting was how hot this story was! I actually had to walk away a couple times to catch my breath before I could return. Normally, I don’t like dialogue during my erotic scenes. More often then not, it sounds cheesy and silly. Rivard has a talent with writing such dialogue without taking away from the heat of the scene. In all honestly, it made them even hotter.

It wasn’t all about the sex, however. The author created a fantastical world filled interesting creatures. I can’t wait to read more stories to learn more about her mystical races. Not only that, but she did a great job of adding meat to the story, creating a cornucopia of characters whose stories intertwine. I found myself wondering about certain characters and hoping she continues their stories in the next novel.

The only true issue I had with this novel was how stubborn Dion was. I guess if I look from his point of view, I would understand. I wonder if the author gritted her teeth while she wrote him being so bullheaded. I know I would have.

This story could have gone wrong so very easily. I have read it countless times before. Rivard knew what she was doing and expertly wove a story of love, sacrifice, and fantasy. I will definitely be continuing the series.
  
Young Readers' edition of The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

The Radium Girls: The Scary But True Story of the Poison That Made People Glow in the Dark was adapted for younger readers by Kate Moore from her bestselling novel The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women.

It tells the story of the wonder drug of the early 1900s, radium. It was thought to cure illnesses, and its luminescent properties made it ideal for glow-in-the-dark watches and for dials and instruments of pilots during WWI. To paint these devices, women would lick the brushes, dip them into the radium, paint, then repeat. The women did not know they were becoming sick with radium poisoning. Some did not show symptoms until years after they stopped working with the radium.

If you read the original version, you know it is detailed and includes timelines of multiple people. The version for a younger audience is written with age-appropriate content, but it is still incredibly detailed and more than 400 pages. The story shows these women as individuals, showing their separate lives, but also the strong, tight-knit group who fought for themselves and to ensure workplace safety for all.

This book is perfect for assigned reading for history or science classes.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 9/1/20.
  
The Midwife's Child (WW2 Resistance Series #3)
The Midwife's Child (WW2 Resistance Series #3)
Amanda Lees | 2023 | History & Politics
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Midwife's Child is an emotional rollercoaster that although is work of fiction, it's based on things that actually happened and real people with the love story element between Maggie and Jamie being based on the true story of a Scottish Commando who met a young woman in a displaced persons camp who had survived the death march.

This is the third in this series but I think it works successfully as a standalone because whilst there are recurring characters, each book is a separate story which focusses on one of those recurring characters.

The Midwife's Child centres around Maggie, a former SOE Special Operations Executive) but now incarcerated in Auschwitz following her capture. There she finds herself working in the camp hospital where the devil incarnate, Joseph Mengele, practised his infamous experiments and where Maggie is determined to save the life of her friend Eva and new born, Leah. The end of the war is fast approaching and the Russians are getting close, Eva is too unwell to go on the forced march so she begs Maggie to save her child and reunite her with her father. A seemingly impossible task but one which Maggie vows to complete.

Told from two timelines, from her time as a doctor working in the 'hospital' at Auschwitz towards the end of the war and the period afterwards, The Midwife's Child is a story of exceptional courage, duty, love, friendship and hope and a story that I highly recommended to those of you who enjoy this genre and I have to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Midwife's Child.