Top Ten Tuesday | Irish Authors

Posted March 16, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 14 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Green Book Covers (In honor of St. Patrick’s Day today!)  

I wasn’t feeling the green book covers so I decided to feature Irish authors instead in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t pay enough attention to where authors usually come from, or even story settings – something I’d like to remedy – so I was surprised to learn about some of these authors’ roots. The first five books are ones I’ve already read, and the next five are books on my TBR I haven’t read yet. Looking forward to see what everyone else has on their list today! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Top Ten Books by Irish Authors

  1. Normal People by Sally Rooney – I enjoyed this book but didn’t love it. I feel like the author is a “journey, not destination” type of storyteller, which I appreciate sometimes, but maybe I needed a little more with this book. I can recognize the author’s mastery while also acknowledging that I may not be the best audience for her work.
  2. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde – This is one of my favorite classics. I have read it several times and I always love how creepy and chilling it is. I also really liked the 2009 film adaptation.
  3. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern – I read this book a long time ago and don’t remember much but I’m pretty sure I ugly cried.
  4. Room by Emma Donoghue – I know I ugly cried with this one. I read it for a book club years ago, and I remember thinking about the book and the discussions we got out of it for a long time after that.
  5. Dracula by Bram Stoker – I only read this book recently but I loved it and now understand why it has such an everlasting hold on popular culture and media. It’s just a really good story with really interesting characters and so much tension.
  6. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell – I was very interested in this book but there was so much hype around it that I just kept putting it off. I’m still interested though, and will probably read it eventually.
  7. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce – This has been on my TBR forever but I just haven’t gotten around to it. One day, hopefully soon!
  8. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift – I was very surprised to find that I haven’t read this book because I remember reading it when I was a child, but I realized that I was reading an adapted, abridged, children’s version, so it’s still on my TBR.
  9. This Charming Man by Marian Keyes – One of my friends spoke very highly of this author, and then I found this book in a little free library some years ago. It’s been on my shelf a while, and I keep meaning to read it soon.
  10. In The Woods by Tana French – I’m familiar with this author’s name but have somehow never read any of her books. I came across this book while researching authors for this list and it sounds like something I’d enjoy so it’s on the TBR now!

Have you read any of these authors? What did you think of them? Would you read any of their books?

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Book Review | We Met Like This by Kasie West

Posted March 16, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

We Met Like This by Kasie West

Beloved author Kasie West’s sparkling adult debut about a hopeless romantic falling for the one man she never expected.

Can a swipe right turn into swept away?

Margot Hart is a hopeless romantic. That’s why she wants to be a literary agent—to help bring romance books to the world. It’s also why she hates dating apps with all her romance-loving soul. She wants her own love story to be just as much fun as those in the books she reads—a mixed-up coffee order, a mistaken identity. She’s not going to tell the story that she swiped right on her future husband’s shirtless pic for the rest of her life.

The problem is that her most consistent relationship over the last several years is with Oliver, a guy she keeps rematching with on the apps. They’ve only been on one date and it was a disaster . . . well, until the make-out session in the car before parting ways. But, she keeps reminding herself, a make-out session does not a relationship make. And so there will not be a date two regardless of how witty their app banter is.

When Margot gets fired from her job on the same day she meets Oliver again, her life becomes a veritable shit show. Her dream career is dying right before her eyes, and Oliver thinks she’s interested in only one thing: a repeat of the hot make-out session they had three years ago so she can get him out of her system. And maybe that is all she wants from him, because she and Oliver are definitely not compatible—he doesn’t hit the snooze button, he runs five miles every morning, he reads nonfiction, and worst of all, she didn’t meet him in a cute way! But in her scramble to keep her dream career alive by opening her own literary agency, Oliver is there with his golden retriever energy, more steady and helpful than any man she’s ever dated. Just when she thinks she’s overcome her app bias, she realizes that maybe it’s not her who’s holding back, but him. And his reasons are more than she bargained for.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD: TBD)

The Reason

I love the author’s YA books!

My Thoughts

I’m a big fan of the author and have read several of her young adult books over the years. I only found out this was an adult romance recently, but even then I didn’t expect it to get so explicit in the first scene! I’m not necessarily complaining though! I did enjoy the storytelling and the chemistry between the two MCs, but Margot as a character got quite frustrating for me at times, especially with how long she allowed herself to be taken advantage of, and I was also not happy with her sister being so mean to her. It’s still a good and fun read in the moment, but I think I prefer the author’s YA books still.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan

Posted March 16, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan

From the author of the acclaimed The Curiosity comes a compelling and moving story of compassion, courage, and redemption

Deborah Birch is a seasoned hospice nurse whose daily work requires courage and compassion. But her skills and experience are tested in new and dramatic ways when her easygoing husband, Michael, returns from his third deployment to Iraq haunted by nightmares, anxiety, and rage. She is determined to help him heal, and to restore the tender, loving marriage they once had.

At the same time, Deborahs primary patient is Barclay Reed, a retired history professor and expert in the Pacific Theater of World War II whose career ended in academic scandal. Alone in the world, the embittered professor is dying. As Barclay begrudgingly comes to trust Deborah, he tells her stories from that long-ago war, which help her find a way to help her husband battle his demons.

Told with piercing empathy and heartbreaking realism, The Hummingbird is a masterful story of loving commitment, service to country, and absolution through wisdom and forgiveness.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD: TBD)

The Reason

This is a reread and the BOTM for my bookclub, but I would’ve reread it anyway because it’s one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read.

The Quotes

“I believe the measure of a vow does not lie in saying it, or in upholding it when things are easy. The power of a promise is proven in times of difficulty, when keeping that pledge is hard.”

“No one dies alone. If every life has value, so does every death.”

“What a notion. The main thing that giving a big gift required was courage.”

“I stayed with him, nothing greater than that, but essential because I stood between Barclay Reed and his being alone.”

My Thoughts

I read this book for the first time eight years ago and loved it then. Reading it again now; I love it still but it also hits a little different for me. Eight years ago isn’t really that long ago, but I was a different person then. I was younger, more hopeful about the future, and seeing things from the caregiver POV. I have since suffered some medical issues and I feel older and more tired in general. I’m not giving up by any means and of course I’m doing my best to take better care of myself, but it’s hard not to think of my own mortality when reading this book about a hospice nurse taking care of a dying patient.

I think it is important that I share my thoughts when I read it all those years ago:

The Hummingbird really speaks to my heart and to my sense of humanity. What makes us human, why do we suffer, why is life so fleeting… and yet so beautiful, so precious, so meaningful? Why do we live, only to die? This book doesn’t answer all of these questions necessarily, but it does make me stop and think of my own approach to life and relationships.

One of the things I loved most about the book is how death is portrayed in such a beautiful way. Tarot readers often spend a lot of time explaining the death card and how it doesn’t have to be a scary card. Most of the time we talk about rebirth, transitions, and new beginnings, and all of that is true. Sometimes it means a physical death, and despite how naturally death is a part of life, many people are still afraid of it. I feel like this book shows how death can be just as beautiful and as precious as birth of a newborn, and such a privilege to witness.

The most important thing for me though, is seeing how the protagonist navigates her world and in the end, how she grows. She is a hospice nurse who cares for those in their final days, and her dedication to her patients, her devotion, compassion, and understanding of their needs, is so humbling to see.

Throughout the book even as she struggles to provide care, she reminds herself that it’s not about her, it is about her patients and their families, and how she can best serve them. This is something that speaks to me as a tarot reader; it is never about my ego or how accurate my interpretation of the cards is, it is always about my clients and how I can best serve my them.

I still feel the same awe and beauty reading it this time, and it feels more meaningful to me now because I feel like I appreciate life and how fleeting it can be now more than ever. I don’t know if I can put into words all the feelings I have about this book.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

Posted March 16, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

Nina de Gramont’s The Christie Affair is a beguiling novel of star-crossed lovers, heartbreak, revenge, and murder—and a brilliant re-imagination of one of the most talked-about unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.

Every story has its secrets.
Every mystery has its motives.

“A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It’s a particular feeling, the urge to murder. It takes over your body so completely, it’s like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. There’s a joy to it. In retrospect, it’s frightening, but I daresay in the moment it feels sweet. The way justice feels sweet.”

The greatest mystery wasn’t Agatha Christie’s disappearance in those eleven infamous days, it’s what she discovered.

London, 1925: In a world of townhomes and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie.

The question is, why? Why destroy another woman’s marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O’Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #45: Biographical fiction)

The Reason

I needed a book for the 52 Book Club challenge prompt and I’d been curious about Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance.

The Quotes

“Sometimes a life is so entirely disrupted, on such a large and ungraspable scale, all one can do is face the ruined day.”

“Obedience seemed the safest plan. I hadn’t learned yet. In this world it’s the obedient girls who are most in danger.”

“I see the kind of determination you only recognize if you’ve felt it yourself. Determination born of desperation transformed into purpose.”

“We both know you can’t tell your own story without exposing someone else’s.”

The Narrator(s)

Lucy Scott. It was pretty good.

My Thoughts

This is a work of fiction so I know it’s not what actually happened with Agatha Christie’s disappearance, but even just taking it as a work of fiction, I find it very hard to suspend my belief because the whole “reveal” is such a reach. I wish I could talk about it more without spoiling it, and to be fair, I’m not sure it’s an actual spoiler because it’s quite obvious throughout the book that it was leading us there. However, it’s not Nan’s reason itself that doesn’t make sense to me, it’s Christie’s reaction to it, and perhaps just the way the story was told. The vibes are great, the story not so much.

I am still very curious about Agatha Christie in general though, and I’m glad I chose this book for the corresponding prompt, because there’s another prompt for a nonfiction book related to the character in this book and I get to read something real about Christie!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books Beginning with G

Posted March 9, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 37 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Book Titles Featuring Ordinal Numbers 

I never realized how few books I’ve read with ordinal numbers until I tried looking for books for this prompt, so I decided to do books beginning with the letter G for my alphabetical prompts instead. I did add a single book with an ordinal number; it’s the only one I’ve read that I can think of! I’m looking forward to finding some good ordinal number books on everyone else’s lists that I can add to the TBR.

Top Ten Books Beginning with G

  1. Grass by Sheri S. Tepper – One of my favorite scifi books by one of my favorite scifi authors. It’s about humans who have migrated to a planet of grass that’s already inhabited by other species. I desperately need to reread this one, it’s been a while.
  2. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry – I’ve enjoyed many of Emily Henry’s books and this was the latest one. The premise is similar to TJR’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but the vibes are a lot more lighthearted and I loved it.
  3. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo – My favorite Malaysian author writing about Malaysian Chinese folklore. I cannot recommend this book enough! I reminds me so much of my own family’s history and culture, and it’s just a really good story in and of itself.
  4. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – One of the most popular classics of all time, and one of my favorite books still. I no longer see it as a romance because of how problematic it is now that we know better, but I do still see it as a very important cultural and historical snapshot of the times.
  5. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson – I read this so long ago I honestly cannot remember a single detail about it except that it made an impression on me. This means it’s time to reread!
  6. Gerald’s Game by Stephen King – This was one of the first King books I read and I was completely drawn in by the psychological horror. I remember feeling such awe at the way King tells the story because nothing tangible happens for hours except in the MC’s head, but you can just feel the horror from the way he writes it.
  7. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck – This book was in my father’s library and I read it when I was too young to fully appreciate it. I think it’s time to reread it in my adulthood, I’m pretty sure I’ll get a lot more out of it now.
  8. The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe – This is young adult but I loved the story and the MC. The author has written several young adult books with really interesting female main characters and I just love them. This was the first one I read, and there’s also a sequel that I haven’t read yet.
  9. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown – I’ve probably mentioned a few times now that I’m a huge fan of the author, and I loved this book. I love all her books. They make me feel like I could be a better person, so there’s hope for me yet!
  10. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – My token book featuring an ordinal number. I listened to it on audio and missed a lot of details so I didn’t want to read the sequel until I reread on print and understand what’s happening a little more.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Portal Fantasy

Posted March 2, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 37 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Genre Freebie  

I decided to go with “portal fantasy” for today’s genre freebie. Portal fantasy is when people from the “real world” suddenly find themselves transported into an alternate reality, a fantasy world, via some sort of portal like a book or a wardrobe. Some of these are well-known and loved, and others less so, but I realized I enjoy portal fantasy a lot. What other books have you read and loved that fall into the portal fantasy genre? Please share them with me!

Top Ten Portal Fantasy Books

  1. Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan – The MC is sick and unwell in real life and finds herself transported into one of her favorite books as a villain. It was one of my favorite surprises; I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did but I’m obsessed and eagerly waiting the next one.
  2. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – This book probably doesn’t need an intro since I only read it because so many of you gushed about it! I’m so glad you did because I loved it and I kind of feel like rereading it now.
  3. Oz: The Complete Collection by L. Frank Baum – Dorothy goes from the real world into Oz via hurricane. Not really the portal I would choose to go through if I had a choice, but I love the Oz stories and was surprised that Dorothy is only a small part of the whole collection!
  4. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende – This is one of my favorite books (and I loved the movies too!) but it’s been a while since I read it. I’m mixing up a lot of the book details with the movie details so it makes sense that I should just go ahead and reread it and rewatch the movies soon!
  5. Fairy Tale by Stephen King – If King wrote it and it fits the prompt, it sits on the list! This is one of my favorite King books, but I love so many King books I don’t know if being my “favorite” King book carries weight anymore. This one is fantasy, not horror, has found family and a dog, and is just really good.
  6. The Astral Library by Kate Quinn – I’ve been wanting to read more of Kate Quinn and this is on my TBR. It’s probably the most recently released book on the list and I’m very excited about it, because it’s about a hidden library where you can go inside your favorite books and visit those worlds!
  7. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke – In the same vein, this one is also about being transported into a book world. Full disclosure, I’ve only watched the movie but I love the idea and I’ve been thinking that I should probably read the book.
  8. Her Majesty’s Wizard by Christopher Stasheff – I loved this book as a child. It’s a series of 8 books but I’ve only read up to book 4 because I didn’t know there were more at the time! In the first book, the “wizard” is just a normal guy from the real world who gets transported into a world with a rhyming magical system, and he becomes a powerful wizard in that world just because he’s good with rhymes. I love it and I’m going to reread it all over again!
  9. The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher – I love Kingfisher and I loved this book. I found it so creepy but in a good way, and I jumped at shadows for a while, but it was worth it!
  10. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis – I feel like this is another one that doesn’t need an intro because it’s probably one of the most popular portal fantasy and everyone knows about the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. However, I realized suddenly as I was writing this, that this is another one of those stories you think you know because it’s so popular, but I’ve only read the first book and not any of the others! I need to rectify this.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Monthly Wrap Up | February 2026

Posted March 2, 2026 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 5 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

February 2026 Wrap Up

February went by too quickly! I completely reorganized my workspace this month and it took up a whole week and a half, which is basically almost half the month! I still have little bits and pieces to clean up but at least I can actually use the space now. It made a short month feel even shorter, but I did manage to read a lot of good books anyway.

My February 2026 TBR Intentions

Yeah, I didn’t do so well reading from my TBR in February because of the mental load of reorganizing, but I did end up reading a lot of good books and even got one single nonfiction in!

  1. The Women Are Not Fine by Hope Reese
  2. The Glass Château by Stephen P. Kiernan
  3. The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan
  4. Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
  5. The Mind-Gut Connection by Emeran Mayer, MD
  6. This Is What It Sounds Like by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas

Books Read in January 2026

  1. The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskens
  2. The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens
  3. Forsaken Country by Allen Eskens
  4. Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
  5. Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
  6. Strange Houses by Uketsu
  7. The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
  8. Never Flinch by Stephen King
  9. Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
  10. Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
  11. The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
  12. The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan

Notable Books This Month

Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King, and The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth were just pure enjoyment for me this month. It was the storytelling – both books were different to each other, but it was just the way the stories were told. I felt completely immersed and felt all the feelings.

The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan also made a huge impact on me. It’s a reread, but it’s been a while and I’d forgotten everything except the impression it made on me the first time. It hit me harder this time around and I’ll probably talk about it more in a review soon.

And of course, Dare to Lead by Brené Brown makes the list because I love everything she puts out and this is no different. I finished the book in a single sitting, and I’ve restarted the book again because I want to savor it this time around.

March 2026 TBR Intentions

I’m keeping this month’s list short because the Sherlock Holmes collection is massive at 72 hours, or 1796 pages, and two of the other books on the list are nonfiction that require more attention.

  1. Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection by Arthur Conan Doyle
  2. The Glass Château by Stephen P. Kiernan
  3. The Mind-Gut Connection by Emeran Mayer, MD
  4. This Is What It Sounds Like by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas

How was your month in February? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful March with lots of great books!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Favorite Book Quotes from Recent Reads

Posted February 23, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 26 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Quotes From/About Books

I don’t normally remember quotes, but I’ve been adding some favorite quotes that stand out to me every time I review a book so that I can at least keep a record and remember them when I come back to the reviews. The list below are some of my favorites from my most recent reads.

Top Ten Favorite Book Quotes from Recent Reads

  1. “The library belongs to everyone. The library, Janet used to say, is one of only a few places in the world that one doesn’t need to believe anything or buy anything to come inside.” – The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
  2. “There’s no bitch on earth like a mother frightened for her kids.” – Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
  3. “We all make mistakes. It’s how we deal with our mistakes that really define our character.” – Better Than Revenge by Kasie West
  4. “There is no happy ending, theres just. . . happily living. As best you can.” – The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
  5. “At the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of my life, I want to say I contributed more than I criticized.” – Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
  6. “They ask something small of you. A thing you would prefer not to do, but is not so terrible. You think you are working your way up, but in fact they are changing you. Moulding you into what they think you should be, one compromise at a time.” – The Will of the Many by James Islington
  7. “I lay it down as a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him.” – Emma by Jane Austen
  8. “Nobody can take care of you the way you need to take care of yourself. It’s your job to take care of yourself like that.” – The Wedding People by Alison Espach
  9. “Don’t cheat your friendships. Don’t ask them to mean less to you than they do, or think they only have value if they’re a stop on the way to a real relationship. All relationships are real. Friendship can be as deep as the ocean. It’s all a kind of love, and love isn’t any one kind of thing.” – Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
  10. “There is a crazy-wild delight that comes over you when you discover something new, something extraordinary. If you try to share that and people look at you blankly, it’s crushing. But if there’s someone else there to say really?! and take fire with enthusiasm alongside you – well, that will keep you going for a long time.” – Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher

What are some of your favorite bookish quotes? Why do they resonate for you?

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Book Review | Brigands & Breadknives (Legends & Lattes #2) by Travis Baldree

Posted February 17, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 4 Comments

Brigands & Breadknives (Legends & Lattes #2) by Travis Baldree

Return to the cozy fantasy world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Legends & Lattes series with a new adventure featuring fan-favorite, foul-mouthed bookseller, Fern.

Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her!

If only things were so simple…

It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint.

A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior surviving on inertia, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover.

As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when there isn’t a job to get in the way.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD: TBD)

The Reason

I wanted more of the Legends & Lattes world!

The Quotes

“Sometimes the storm clears away the wreckage.”

“”We goes when is time to be somewhere else,” said Zyll.”

“I could wish you hadn’t seen the worst of me, but I’m glad you looked past it until you saw the back of me.”

“Always remember, although the unimaginative see life as a thread stretched from one point to another, birth to death, a life truly lived is a glorious tangle. One is never lost. And if one is lucky, one is never found, either.”

The Narrator(s)

The author himself. I enjoy his narration in general but I had trouble understanding many of the made-up words and names, a common problem with fantasy stories, so I ended up switching to a physical copy of the book.

My Thoughts

Full disclosure, I didn’t like this book as much as the first two. The author mentions in the acknowledgement that he worried people might not enjoy this book as much because it was not as cozy and was higher conflict than the first two books, but that he didn’t want to write the same book over and over, and frankly I respect that. This wasn’t the issue for me.

My issue was that I didn’t like Fern very much here because she was so wishy-washy and uncertain about everything, and yet constantly complaining and imposing her opinions on others. On the one hand, I recognize that I don’t like seeing these traits in her because I really didn’t like seeing these traits in myself, so I get that I have work to do for myself. But it was just really annoying to be shown a mirror.

I did enjoy the rest of the book, and I love Zyll’s character so much! As mentioned, the author said he didn’t want to write the same book over and over, and that actually makes me look forward to more books in this series because I’d love to see how these characters and their stories change and evolve as we go!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

Posted February 17, 2026 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

A thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD: TBD)

The Reason

I borrowed a bunch of Hepworth’s books after loving the last one I read; The Good Sister.

The Quotes

“Even after all these years, yearning for the love and attention of someone who couldn’t give it to her was much more comfortable than actually receiving it.”

“Some people are so busy chasing perfection they don’t appreciate the wonders right in front of them”

“When cruelty becomes familiar in your tender, adolescent years, of course you start to become comfortable with it. You believe you deserve it. But you don’t.”

“When it came to vengeance, Miss Fairchild preferred to play the long game.”

The Narrator(s)

Jessica Clarke. I enjoyed her narration more than Barrie Kreinik’s for The Good Sister.

My Thoughts

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as The Good Sister but I thought it was pretty good too. I’m discovering that I often find the author’s stories predictable but I still really like their storytelling style and I’m happy to read more. It’s the psychological horror that gets me; the author writes those emotional scenes so well and I find myself feeling all the feelings. This book features motherhood, foster children, and the complicated issues that come with that. I loved the story overall, but I have to say that I found the last chapter unnecessary and unrealistic. It was a twist for shock factor but it doesn’t make sense to the story, in my opinion, and it not only weakens the shock factor but the whole psychological horror aspect. It was a great story up to that point.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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