The Crooked Little Pieces Vol. 2: Life Doesn’t Get Easier for Sisters Isabel and Anneliese

The Crooked Little Pieces Vol. 2 by Sophia Lambton continues to follow the lives of two sisters, Isabel and Anneliese, whose lives have been marked by war and other unfortunate events that have befallen them.Isabel is still facing domestic violence while Anneliese remains in a deep state of denial over her sister’s condition despite advice…

The Crooked Little Pieces is truly “a television drama. Novelised.”

The Crooked Little Pieces by Sophia Lambton is a story revolving around two sisters. Or rather, it is a story about these two sisters. We follow musical prodigy Isabel and her twin, inquisitive but quiet Annelise, as they grow and mature and experience a whole lot of drama and circumstances. We start off slow, being…

The Ghost Woods has the thrill, the horror, the mystery all-in-one

The first C.J. Cooke book I’d ever read was The Lighthouse Witches. It was described as a “Gothic thriller”, which I believe is a genre I rarely, if ever, read. It enchanted me completely, and pulled me out of a reading slump (for a brief amount of time before I fell back into it, but…

The Queen of Dirt Island Continues Strange Flowers’ Theme of Love

After reading Donal Ryan's Strange Flowers, I was pleasantly surprised by how he had managed to present everyday life and drama in such a gripping way, making things seem more "bigger", more important than was expected. In a way, that's the truth about life. (I was about to write something but started confusing myself. It…

January to March wrap-up: Trying to catch up with all those goals set in the New Year excitement

How wonderful it would be if I could proudly say that I am returning with a vengeance! Unfortunately, things don't always go the way we intend them to. Earlier in the year, I confidently set a reading goal of 70 books this year, mentioning that I wished to read more. A simple calculation reveals that…

My 2021 Year in Books and What to Expect Next

Usually, I’d put 50 books as my target in Goodreads Reading Challenges and most of the time, I manage to read more than that (ranging from about 2 to 20 books). Confidence that I could do better coupled with my hope to read more led me to set my 2021 Reading Challenge at 100 books.…

Welcome to Hotel Magnifique, Where Wonders Await and Mysteries Lurk… What Will It Hold for You?

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor is a YA fantasy that showcases the story of Jani, a spirited young lady, determined to make a better life for her sister Zosa and herself from their life of patched clothes and struggling to make enough to ensure they won’t get kicked out from their rented residence. So,…

Complex Character and Challenging the Norm in The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

There is homophobia, violence, sexual content, and other issues mentioned in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Careful you go looking for something, you just might find it. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a debut short story collection by Deesha Philyaw. The book features nine stories about black ladies, young…

The Lighthouse Witches Made Me Relive My Days of Finishing Books in A Day or Two

I'm convinced that I have had a lot of luck with Netgalley titles, leading me to discover the likes of Feathertide and The Tea Dragon Tapestry where my love for reading is rejuvenated and everything seems right in the world (even if it could be just a small slice of time). Reading C.J. Cooke's The…

Revisiting Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children: Updated Thoughts, Significantly More Positive Than Before

Reading any Young Adult book back when Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games started the trend meant that half of the time I consciously and subconsciously compared the other YA books to the trilogy that was finally receiving its well-deserved attention and praise. This did not bode well for the other YA series that may or…