Tag: fantasy

Book Review | Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Posted April 17, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Rae Seddon, nicknamed Sunshine, lived a quiet life working at her stepfather’s bakery. There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it’s unwise to walk. Sunshine knew that. One night, she went out to the lake for some peace and quiet. There hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake for years, and Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts.

Big mistake.

Vampires never entered her mind. Until they found her. And set upon her, and took her to an old abandoned mansion. They took her clothes and sneakers. They dressed her in a long red gown. And they shackled her to a wall-within easy reach of a figure stirring in the moonlight, who is also chained. She knows that it is a vampire. She knows that she’s to be his dinner, and that when he is finished with her, she will be dead. Yet, when light breaks, she finds that he has not attempted to harm her. And now it is the vampire, Constantin, who needs her to help him survive the day, to protect him from the sun with her magic…


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)


The Reason

This is a reread. I’ve read this book twice before and it’s one of my favorite vampire stories. I also really love the author’s works.

The Quotes

“What we can do, we must do: we must use what we are given, and we must use it the best we can, however much or little help we have for the task. What you have been given is a hard thing–a very hard thing… But my darling, what if there were no one who could do the difficult things?”

“It is halfway true that if you are involved in a family coffeehouse you don’t have a life.”

“You can be a really nasty, selfish little jerk when you’re scared enough. I was scared enough.”

“He was a vampire. I was a human. We weren’t supposed to have any bonds between us, except straightforward generic ones of murderous antagonism and so on.”

The Narrator(s)

Laural Merlington. I had a really hard time with the low vampire voices. I could barely hear them and couldn’t make out what they were saying. I had to get a copy of the ebook and refer to it periodically.

My Thoughts

I love this book. I have loved this book, and I still love this book. Listening on audio was not the best experience, unfortunately, because I couldn’t make out what some of the low voices was saying, but I still love the story. I read it for the first time maybe 20 years ago and I thought it was one of the more interesting vampire stories, and 20 years later it’s still true for me.

The relationship between Rae and Constantin is a constant push/pull, and I love that vampires aren’t seen as dashing, romantic bad boys in this world but rather dangerous, animalistic creatures of prey. I mean, to an extent, Constantin is romanticized a little bit but to a reasonable degree in comparison to so many other vampire stories.

There are so many reasons why I love this book; the interesting world-building, the vampire lore, the rich character backgrounds. When the book first came out years ago, I hoped there might be more books set in this world, but unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any so far, and the author hasn’t published any new books in the last decade. Still, there are plenty of books in her catalog I haven’t read and I love rereading the ones I’ve read. I never get tired of them.

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 with Spring in the Title

Posted April 7, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 33 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 Books with Springy Covers

I couldn’t come up with a creative spin on this topic so I just went with books that had the word “spring” in the title. I ended up a pretty good list, I think, and unfortunately, more books added to my TBR! 😂 I hope you enjoy these!

Top Ten Books with Spring in the Title

  1. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson – This book has been on my TBR forever! I keep meaning to read it but haven’t gotten to it yet. It sounds like a very important book to read about the environment and I can’t believe it was written 50 years ago!
  2. Rumours of Spring by Farah Bashir – This is a memoir about a girl in India and I must say I am intrigued! I came across it as I was looking for books for this list and it just caught my attention.
  3. Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews – I’ve seen this author’s name everywhere and I thought I must have read at least one of her books but apparently not. Maybe it’s time to remedy that.
  4. Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – This is the third book in the Dragonlance Chronicles that I’m trying to do a reread on this year! I cannot wait to get to it!
  5. Absent in the Spring by Agatha Christie – Written under her pseudonym Mary Westmacott, it just reminds me I’ve still got many of the author’s books on my TBR!
  6. The Spring of the Ram by Dorothy Dunnett – I have heard good things about the author when it comes to historical fiction. I had a few of her books on my physical shelves at one point but I moved and had to give away a lot of books so she’s still on my TBR!
  7. Black Spring by Henry Miller – I’m not sure I’m interested in this book, but the cover is very attention-getting and I had to include it.
  8. Spring Fever by P.G. Wodehouse – The second book with this title on my list, but it sounded good, and I’ve been curious about the author’s works so it’s on the list!
  9. Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chang – Historical fiction set in China with magical realism! I must read it!
  10. A Spring Without Bees by Michael Schacker – This one is another one about the environment and I’m simultaneously wanting to read it and scared to. I think it’s important to educate ourselves though.

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

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Book Review | Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Posted April 5, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)


The Reason

I thought the premise was brilliant. This book has been on my TBR for ages and it’s a buddy-read on my online bookclub so I decided to join in.

The Quotes

“The entitled assholes of the world are sustained by girls who forgive too easily.”

“That’s not a matter of losing control. Every guy who does something like that knows exactly what he’s doing. There is always a moment where he consciously decides that he will ruin someone’s life to feel better about his own. Always.”

“Shame and humiliation are self-imposed emotions, and from here on out, I choose not to feel them.”

“This body of mine is not big enough to contain the scale of emotion coursing through me. How could I feel a rage like this, and not be able to tear the sky open and scorch the earth?”

My Thoughts

Overall, I didn’t like the book very much. I liked the idea and the worldbuilding based upon Chinese culture; it’s new and different and I thought the story itself was very interesting. The execution was very poor though. The MC, Zetian, was an incredibly Mary Sue character; her powers kept increasing to ridiculous levels, within days, with no training and no explanation, against people who were supposed to have higher Qi points than her. The fight scenes were almost always conveniently not shown on page, taking us into things that happens in the mental realm instead. I get that the battles fought in the mental realm are important, but there should be enough physical fight scenes to balance it out as well.

The intimate and vulnerable scenes between the MCs felt very shallow; there wasn’t any chemistry and I didn’t feel their connection at all. We are mostly told and not shown a lot of the feelings they feel; the anger at the oppression and being lied to, the love and attraction between the MCs. I just didn’t feel it. I don’t know if I’ll read the next book. I really like the story idea, but I’m character-driven and I need to like the characters and feel like they make sense. We’ll see.

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 | Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Posted April 5, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

A super-powered collision of extraordinary minds and vengeful intentions—#1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab returns with the thrilling follow-up to Vicious.

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)


The Reason

I read Vicious, the first book in the series, and loved it. I wanted more of the story.

The Quotes

“How many men would she have to turn to dust before one took her seriously?”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a human versus a human or a human versus an EO or an EO versus an EO. You do what you can. You fight, and you win, until you don’t.”

“The next time you point a gun at someone, make sure you’re ready to pull the trigger.”

“The life I had is gone. There’s no getting it back. I’d rather make a new one. A better one. One where I don’t have to pretend to be weak to survive.”

My Thoughts

I didn’t like this book as much as the first one. I loved the characters, and still do, but there were so many plot holes and issues with the story this time around that were really convenient and annoying. The storytelling style with the jumping timelines was also an issue; it was very confusing and tedious to get through.

The catalyst of the story was stupid, in my opinion, because Victor justified doing many bad things by saying that he was trying to cover their tracks, but that doesn’t make sense at all because anyone with any common sense would realize that it’s exactly what would bring attention to them. I also didn’t like how conveniently things were resolved in the end during the boss battles. I still love Sydney and Mitch, and I think June is a very interesting new character. I want to know what happens to them in the next book, but I’m not looking forward to slogging through the jumping timelines storytelling style, and if the plot is going to have issues like in this book, I don’t know if it’s going to be worth it. I truly hope it gets better.

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 | Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Posted February 21, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Centuries after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. Humanity has finally been accepted into the galactic community, but while this has opened doors for many, those who have not yet left for alien cities fear that their carefully cultivated way of life is under threat.

Tessa chose to stay home when her brother Ashby left for the stars, but has to question that decision when her position in the Fleet is threatened.

Kip, a reluctant young apprentice, itches for change but doesn’t know where to find it.

Sawyer, a lost and lonely newcomer, is just looking for a place to belong.

When a disaster rocks this already fragile community, those Exodans who still call the Fleet their home can no longer avoid the inescapable question:

What is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination?


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)


The Reason

Because I loved the first two books in the Wayfarer series; The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, and A Closed and Common Orbit and I want to continue the series.

The Quotes

“Our species doesn’t operate by reality. It operates by stories.”

“We are a longstanding species with a very short memory. If we don’t keep record, we’ll make the same mistakes over and over again.”

“The only way to really appreciate your way is to compare it to somebody else’s way. Figure out what you love, specifically. In detail. Figure out what you want to keep. Figure out what you want to change. Otherwise, it’s not love. It’s clinging to the familiar–to the comfortable–and that’s a dangerous thing for us short-term thinkers to do.”

“Knowledge should always be free. What people do with it is up to them.”

The Narrator(s)

Patricia Rodriguez. Same narrator as with the first two books and still as enjoyable.

My Thoughts

This book is a little different from the first two books, but while I was surprised and a little blindsided with the way it went, after I took the time to process my feelings, I think I love it for precisely that reason.

There are a few different main characters in this book, and the one I resonated with the most is Sawyer. I really like him as a person, and I felt like his story was the most interesting even though it didn’t end up where I expected it to. I also really like Eyas’ story. It was really interesting to see her perspective about the work she does and the respect she shows towards rituals and beliefs.

The worldbuilding is one of the best things about this series. I love how diverse and different everyone is. I love the way the author is so good at showing us the differences and similarities we all have, no matter where we come from, who we are, what we believe. There’s one more book in the series and I’m excited to read it, but I hope that the author will continue to write more books in the series.

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 | Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Posted February 21, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #41: Cover font is a primary color)


The Reason

I’ve enjoyed the author before and there was a buddy read for this book.

The Quotes

“Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”

“The absence of pain led to an absence of fear, and the absence of fear led to a disregard for consequence.”

“He wanted to care, he wanted to care so badly, but there was this gap between what he felt and what he wanted to feel, a space where something important had been carved out.”

“There are no good men in this game.”

My Thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book! I had no expectations going in, I didn’t even know what it was going to be about, but I just got sucked into the story and the rest is history. I loved the format of the story, the way the story unfolded. It was interesting to see Victor’s POV at the beginning, to see himself with all his flaws, and to see Eli through his emotions.

Mitch and Sydney were also very interesting characters. I loved seeing Victor with them, as opposed to Victor with Eli. I think the thing I love most about the book is all the complexities of the different relationship dynamics between every single character. There’s so much I can’t talk about because of spoilers, but suffice to say this book is worth reading just to explore the different ways the characters are with each other and why they like/dislike/trust/distrust each other.

I will be reading the next book in the series and I cannot wait to see more of the characters and how the story unfolds!

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 Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Posted February 21, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family–and a new love–changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #18: A character who can fly)


The Reason

I can’t resist stories about witches!

The Quotes

“Niceness is all about what we do when other people are looking. Kindness, on the other hand, runs deep. Kindness is what happens when no one’s looking.”

“It’s not always enough to go looking for the place we belong. Sometimes we need to make that place.”

“It’s a leap of faith to love people and let yourself be loved.”

“Maybe some kinds of trauma can’t be revisited — and some need to be.”

The Narrator(s)

Samara MacLaren. She was great!

My Thoughts

I had high hopes for this book and ended up a little disappointed. I love found family stories, I love witchy stories, and this one felt like it could be right up my alley. The first part of the book was very promising, but the further we got into the book, the more I started getting annoyed with the characters, and after everything, I didn’t like where the story and characters ended up.

One of the things that resonated most with me was the conversation about being kind vs. being nice, and I really did love the initial idea of the story and the anticipation of found family. However, there were things that happened in the story that I can’t talk about without giving away spoilers, but I didn’t like what happened, and I didn’t like that the characters did that, and I didn’t like that it was brushed away like it didn’t matter.

I wish it was a better story with better characters, but giving credit where credit is due, it was well written and a very easy read. I’ll check out the author’s other books because I think she’s a good writer, I hope I’ll find some better stories amongst her works.

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 Measure by Nikki Erlick

Posted January 12, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.

It seems like any other day. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out.

But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live.

From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?

As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge?

The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #3: Title starts with the letter “M”)


The Reason

I’m not kidding, I just found it in my borrowed books on Libby one day. I didn’t click on this book, I didn’t even know about this book, it was just there. Then I saw the narrator was Julia Whelan and I love her so I thought I’d give it a try.

The Quotes

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. That makes it hard to plan the day.”

“The great American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, ‘It is not the length of life, but the depth of life.’ You don’t need a long lifetime to make an impact on this world. You just need the will to do so.”

“Once you know something, you forget what it was like to not know it.”

“We segment ourselves based on race or class or religion or whatever fucking distinctions we decide to make up, and then we insist on treating each other differently.”

The Narrator(s)

Julia Whelan. The only reason I read this book without knowing a single thing about it. And I’m glad I did!

My Thoughts

This book has such an interesting premise; people all around the world are receiving a special box with a string inside that supposedly measures their lives. They start to separate themselves based on their short or long strings, they start Other-ing each other, a lot of philosophical questions are asked and discussed. We see the stories of a select few people whose lives intersect, and we come to care about them.

Coming into this story with zero expectations, I ended up really enjoying it. It felt so dystopian and sci-fi, but also down-to-earth in a way, and horrifying in other ways. I love that it explores the value of a person’s life regardless of how long or short that life is. I hate that the Other-ing and fear-mongering is so true to life. The first part of the book was really intense and exciting, but the ending seemed a little flat, like the author wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen. It was still a very well-written book, and a fine exploration of the premise, and I enjoyed it overall.

In a way, it also tracks that ending wasn’t clear-cut and tied up nicely in a bow. It fits the theme that we don’t know what happens next and that it’s up to us what we want to make of the story, what we want to get from it and what we want to make of our own lives from here on out.

I mostly find it curious that I found this book on my borrowed list without ever hearing about it or clicking on it. It’s almost like the characters having those boxes of string just appear out of nowhere. It’s spooky and weird and it’s very possible that aliens have sent this book to me as a gift. 😂 Still, I’m grateful for it because it turned out to be a great story and I really enjoyed it!

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 | Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

Posted December 3, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

A TALE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S EVER FALLEN FOR THE VILLAIN…

When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series.

She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she’s not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor’s tale.

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they’re doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor’s fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain’s shoes, for an adventure that is both ‘brilliant’ (Holly Black) and ‘supremely satisfying’ (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue’s gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.


For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Bookish Books Challenge


The Reason

I was enticed by this because it was a buddy read, but had no idea what it was about going in. I ended up loving it so I’m glad I read it!

The Quotes

“I love you as a knife loves a throat,” he murmured as the dead overwhelmed her. “I crawled out of hell to fall at your feet.”

“An anti-hero was just a villain with good PR.”

“In real life, people let you go. That was why people longed for the love from stories, love that felt more real than real love.”

“Consider this. A witch who curses you is just telling the future you don’t want to hear.”

“Only heroes cared about honour. Villains were allowed to be practical.”

My Thoughts

I abso-freaking-lutely love this book! I went in with no idea what it was going to be about and was so pleasantly surprised with how much I ended up loving it! It’s isekai, a term I just recently learned about, and it’s just so much fun!

Isekai, a fantasy subgenre featuring stories in which ordinary people are transported to a magical world.

I love the story, I love the characters, I love that it’s a found family story! It’s funny and irreverent, it makes fun of book tropes, and I love how relatable the villains are. I am completely invested, and now I’m just so upset that I need to wait so long for the next book to come out. This book was such a delightful read!

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 Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

Posted December 3, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

A woman risks everything to end her family’s centuries-old curse, solve her mother’s disappearance, and find love in this mesmerizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Spells for Forgetting.

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant novel of romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible—a story you will never forget.


The Reason

It’s a buddy read and it sounded interesting!

The Quotes

“You may have ruined my life, June. But first, you gave me one.”

“We stood there, four generations of Farrow women, cursed to live between worlds. But in that moment, in the valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains, we existed only in one.”

“I had only one ambition in my simply built life, and that was to be sure the Farrow curse would end with me. It was as good a place as any to end a story. I wasn’t the first Farrow, but I would be the last.”

My Thoughts

On the pacing
I didn’t know it was a time travel story when I picked it up! The description sure didn’t mention any of that, but I liked that it pretty much went quickly into the time travel storyline rather than keep us hanging. In fact, I think the thing I liked most about it is that things moved quickly and we get into the meat of the story immediately. I was slow to start the book but once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down and had to keep reading! I think if this was a slower-paced story I wouldn’t have liked it as much because a lot of things might not hold up very well if the author gave us more time to contemplate.

On the idea
I tend to give a lot of leeway to time travel stories for how they handle the paradox of the past affecting the future and all of that, and I love the way the author uses a different concept of time travel here and how she resolves the paradox.

On the characters
I don’t feel like the characters in the book were developed very well. Things moved too fast for us to get to know them deeply. We’re told, not shown, who the love interests are, who the good guys are, who the bad guys are. There’s no subtlety; they’re almost caricatures. And as I mentioned earlier, if this was a slower-paced story, I might hate that about the characters, but since it was so fast-paced, I just went with it and enjoyed the story for what it was.

On the story
Again, the fact that it was fast-paced helped to gloss over a lot of the things I feel are unresolved; details that I won’t mention here, but of the things that did get resolved, I do like how they got resolved.

Overall
I loved the pacing and the time travel idea. I really loved the story too, in and of itself. I think that the character development and connections were the weakest part of the book but easy to overlook because of the fast pace. However, I won’t dwell too much on that because if I do, I’ll start nitpicking and I don’t think I need to do that with this book. It’s good as it is and I enjoyed reading it very much!

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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