I was initially put off by Starling House because of the “Reese’s Book Club” decal on the cover1. However, I kept seeing this book on different websites with good reviews, and it is described as a gothic novel – a genre that is like catnip to me – so I knew I had to read it. Although this book did not turn out to be as creepily gothic as I hoped, I found Starling House to be an entertaining read.
…
The Temple of Fortuna is the final novel of Elodie Harper’s Wolf Den Trilogy, preceded by The Wolf Den and The House with the Golden Door. I like The Temple of Fortuna better than The House with the Golden Door, but the first novel in the trilogy, The Wolf Den, is definitely the best one (as is usually the case). Overall, I think the Wolf Den Trilogy is worth reading. As disappointing as Amara’s character development is, I appreciate Harper’s efforts to recreate Pompeii for her readers. Do not read any further if you have not read the first two novels of the Wolf Den Trilogy yet.
…
Prep is Curtis Sittenfeld’s debut novel, published back in 2005. Prep is an agonizingly authentic portrait of a teenage white girl’s high school experience. Its authenticity is so remarkable that I had a hard time getting through this book because of my own painful memories of high school, but it is such a well written novel that I am glad I read it.
…
Obviously, I bought Starter Villain because of the adorable and dapper-looking cat on the front cover. And because the novel features talking spy cats. If you enjoy unserious sci-fi/supervillain stories – and cats – then you will enjoy this novel.
…
The Witch and the Tsar has all the makings of a novel that I would like: historical fiction, magical realism, an interesting back story featuring a mythology I am not familiar with, and a strong female protagonist; however, I just was not that into it. I did not think about not finishing The Witch and the Tsar, but I was not excited to get back to reading it every night before bedtime.
…
I really should make more of an effort to read Lyndsay Faye’s novels because I usually end up enjoying them. The first novel of hers that I read was The Gods of Gotham, which is set in mid-19th century New York and is about a police officer who investigates a serial killer. It is a fascinating story about the Five Points district, but I will admit I was not a fan of the ending. I have also read Jane Steele, which reimagines Jane Eyre as a serial killer. Sounds like something that would make Charlotte Brontë roll over in her grave, but I thought it was really good. Now I have read The Paragon Hotel, which is set in one of my favourite time periods, the 1920s Prohibition Era, and is about the Italian mafia in New York and Black people living in Portland, Oregon as the Ku Klux Klan begins to make its presence known.
…
Apparently, I completely misconstrued what Last Winter is about. I thought it was about an avalanche that engulfs a group of schoolkids, killing all of them but two, with one of the survivors being an eight-year-old girl whose father was the guide. Her father is still missing after the bodies of her schoolmates are recovered, so she decides to go off on her own in the wilderness to find him. I imagined a suspenseful adventure story with a precocious protagonist with mad survival skills. Instead, Last Winter is an uncomfortable story about the demise of a relationship between a mentally ill woman and a man who cannot deal with his wife’s mental health issues anymore. I would not have read this novel if I had known what I was actually getting myself into.
…
I came across Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano in Indigo’s list of the Top 100 Books of the Year (it is number one on the list). Hello Beautiful is a homage to Little Women (ugh, I just love Little Women), so of course I had to read it. Do I think Hello Beautiful is the number one book of 2023? As affecting a story that it is about familial relationships, I am not impressed enough by Hello Beautiful to think it deserves top honour.
…
The Vaster Wilds is Lauren Groff’s latest novel. It is a beautifully written but bleak story about a girl trying to survive on her own in the wilderness. Compared to Groff’s other novels, The Vaster Wilds is a despairing read.
…