Christian White: The Wife and the Widow

 Hi everyone

This is my review of The Wife and the Widow by Christian White. It's his second book but the first one I read. I read it on my e-reader.

"Set against the backdrop of an eerie island town in the dead of winter, The Wife and The Widow is an unsettling thriller told from two perspectives: Kate, a widow whose grief is compounded by what she learns about her dead husband’s secret life; and Abby, an island local whose world is turned upside when she’s forced to confront the evidence of her husband’s guilt. But nothing on this island is quite as it seems, and only when these women come together can they discover the whole story about the men in their lives."

I really enjoyed this.

The writing is easy and has a nice flow. The story is neither too slow nor too fast to follow, and I really wanted to find out how it all happened. The twist was great, and I didn’t see it coming, which is always a plus!

Once you realize the whole story, there’s quite a bit of the book left, and that was a bit of a bummer. There were also a few plot holes and questions about the efficiency of the police that left me scratching my head.

All in all, The Wife and the Widow is a quick, enjoyable murder mystery that sucked me in. Just don’t think too hard about the plot because it’s best enjoyed as a fun, fast-paced ride.

Have you read The Wife and the Widow? Did you enjoy it as much as I did, or did you spot the twist early? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading.
Helena

Devin Madson: We Ride the Storm

 Hi everyone

This is my review for Devin Madson's We Ride the Storm, this is book one in The Reborn Empire series.
I got my book from Bol.com, it has a nice cover and an interesting blurb on the back.

"War built the Kisian Empire and war will tear it down.
Fifteen years after rebels stormed the streets, Kisia is still divided. Only the firm hand of the god-emperor holds the kingdom together. But when a shocking betrayal destroys a tense alliance with neighbouring Chiltae, all that has been won comes crashing down.
In Kisia, Princess Miko T'sai is a prisoner in her own castle. She dreams of claiming her empire, but the path to power could rip it, and her family, asunder.
In Chiltae, assassin Cassandra Marius is plagued by the voices of the dead. Desperate, she accepts a contract that promises to reward her with a cure if she helps an empire fall.
And on the border between nations, Captain Rah e'Torin and his warriors are exiles forced to fight in a foreign war or die."

I really didn’t enjoy this one.

The characters were very one-dimensional, and some existed only to further the plot. Characterization is really important to me, and the lack of depth made me not care about a single character, so I lost interest halfway through.
The story was predictable and very cliché, and the worldbuilding was almost non-existent. The dialogue and actions of the characters had me sighing and rolling my eyes at their stupidity.
Also, completely unnecessary rape scenes never sit well with me, and that cost the book a star right then and there.

At least the writing was good.

Have you read We Ride the Storm? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading.
Helena

Travis Baldree: Bookshops & Bonedust

 Hi everyone

I finished Travis Baldrees Bookshops & Bonedust. This is the prequel to Legends & Lattes (the first book in the Legends & Lattes series). 

"First loves. Second-hand books. Epic adventures.
Viv’s career with the renowned mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned. Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk – so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it. What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?
Spending her hours at a struggling bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted. Even though it may be exactly what she needs. Still, adventure isn’t far away. A suspicious traveller in grey, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.
Sometimes, right things happen at the wrong time. Sometimes, what we need isn’t what we seek. And sometimes, we find ourselves in the stories we experience together.
Set twenty years before the events of Legends & Lattes , Bookshops & Bonedust is a standalone cosy fantasy by BookTok sensation Travis Baldree about the power of good bookshops, great friends and the unexpected choices along the way."

I honestly really enjoyed this. Since I’ve already read Legends & Lattes, I knew what to expect, and this book delivered exactly that.

This is a cozy, wholesome, and cute story about people bonding, working together, friendship, baked goods, and books. It’s a light and slow story, with not much worldbuilding or great depth to the characters. But that’s not what it’s trying to be; it’s a nice, easy, warming, and comforting escape.

If you’re looking for something light, heartwarming, and full of charm, Bookshops & Bonedust is perfect. It’s not deep or complex, but it’s exactly the kind of book you want when you need a break from heavier reads.

Have you read Bookshops & Bonedust? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Alice Hoffman: The Museum of Extraordinary Things

 Hi everyone

I finished reading Alice Hoffman's The Museum of Extraordinary Things. It was my first book by Alice Hoffman and I'm not sure I'll try anything else.
The book has a gorgeous cover and that totally sucked me in. I read it on my e-reader.

"Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River. The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor’s apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie."

This was a "meh" book. It didn’t stay with me, and I couldn’t care less about the story or the characters.

The characters were very one-dimensional and dull. And ugly; so many ugly things happen in this book. The love story didn’t add anything interesting to the plot. The romantic connection between Coralie and Eddie was weak or nonexistent. I couldn’t detect anything strong or rebellious in the two main characters, even though they talk about it a lot.

Hoffman’s writing was uninspired and repetitive. This is a boring, tragic, ugly story in which she tried to show how much she knows about New York’s history and not because it fits the story, but just because she can.

It’s sad that this beautiful cover holds such a mediocre story.

Have you read The Museum of Extraordinary Things? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts! 

Happy reading.
Helena

Gretchen Rubin: Better Than Before

 Hi everyone

Better Than Before is the third book by Gretchen Rubin I have read so I knew what to expect. I knew it would be more pseudo-science, anecdotal and personal than scientific. I read this on my e-reader.

"The author of the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, tackles the critical question: How do we change?
Gretchen Rubin's answer: through habits. Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life. It takes work to make a habit, but once that habit is set, we can harness the energy of habits to build happier, stronger, more productive lives.
So if habits are a key to change, then what we really need to know is: How do we change our habits?
Better than Before answers that question. It presents a practical, concrete framework to allow readers to understand their habits—and to change them for good. Infused with Rubin’s compelling voice, rigorous research, and easy humor, and packed with vivid stories of lives transformed, Better than Before explains the (sometimes counter-intuitive) core principles of habit formation.
Along the way, Rubin uses herself as guinea pig, tests her theories on family and friends, and answers readers’ most pressing questions—oddly, questions that other writers and researchers tend to ignore:
• Why do I find it tough to create a habit for something I love to do?
• Sometimes I can change a habit overnight, and sometimes I can’t change a habit, no matter how hard I try. Why?
• How quickly can I change a habit?
• What can I do to make sure I stick to a new habit?
• How can I help someone else change a habit?
• Why can I keep habits that benefit others, but can’t make habits that are just for me?
Whether readers want to get more sleep, stop checking their devices, maintain a healthy weight, or finish an important project, habits make change possible. Reading just a few chapters of Better Than Before will make readers eager to start work on their own habits—even before they’ve finished the book."

This was okay.

I had hoped for more real research to be mentioned, but it’s all very anecdotal. Gretchen Rubin did the research, but she doesn’t talk much about it. Instead, she mostly talks about how she implemented these ideas herself or how she talked others into doing what she thinks is best for them.
She really is full of herself, and this tone is so tiring.
That said, she does have some good tips, ideas, and insights into understanding habits so I'm not mad I finished it.

Better Than Before is worth reading if you’re looking for practical advice on habits, but don’t expect deep scientific insights.

Have you read Better Than Before? Did you find it helpful, or did you feel the same way I did? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Shelby Van Pelt: Remarkably Bright Creatures

 Hi everyone

I’ve been hearing and reading a lot about Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, and the blurb seemed silly but sweet, so I wanted to give it a try. I read it on my e-reader. 

"After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late."

It was indeed rather silly and sweet. Nothing special, nothing memorable or remarkable. It’s light, easy to read, and feel-good, but also predictable.

Remarkably Bright Creatures is a nice, cozy book to pass the time, but it won’t leave a lasting impression.

Have you read Remarkably Bright Creatures? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading.
Helena

Wrap Up: September 2024

 Hi everyone

Another month has flown by! Autumn is really here in Belgium; rain, cold, wind, perfect weather for reading.

Here's the list of the books I finished in September:

- Stephen King: Pet Sematary

- Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens

- Lucy Holland: Sistersong 

- N. K. Jemisin: The Killing Moon 

- Richard K. Morgan: Altered Carbon 

- Sequoia Nagamatsu's How High We Go in the Dark

How was your September in books? Did you discover any new favorites or revisit old ones? Anything you’d like to recommend?

Happy reading in October!
Helena

Sequoia Nagamatsu: How High We Go in the Dark

 Hi everyone

This is my review for Sequoia Nagamatsu's How High We Go in the Dark. I got my copy from Bol.com and it has this gorgeous cover that totally sucked me in when I saw it online. And then I read the blurb and the book was instantly added to my cart.

"Dr. Cliff Miyashiro arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue his recently deceased daughter's research, only to discover a virus, newly unearthed from melting permafrost. The plague unleashed reshapes life on earth for generations. Yet even while struggling to counter this destructive force, humanity stubbornly persists in myriad moving and ever inventive ways.
Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects-a pig-develops human speech; a man who, after recovering from his own coma, plans a block party for his neighbours who have also woken up to find that they alone have survived their families; and a widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet.
From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humanity endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world. This is a story of unshakable hope that crosses literary lines to give us a world rebuilding itself through an endless capacity for love, resilience and reinvention. Wonderful and disquieting, dreamlike and all too possible."

I loved this book.

How High We Go in the Dark is a collection of interlinked stories centered around a plague and how the world and specific people tried to cope with it. It’s focused on the people and their lives; not on action, war, or crime. It’s thoughtful, hopeful, bleak, harrowing, and tender.

The book is a slow read. The prose is beautiful and elegant, and the story flows easily in a dreamy, meditative way. Because of this (and the heaviness of the stories) I couldn’t read it for two hours at a time. I had to take pauses to digest what I had read, to ponder over the characters and their stories.
And that’s a sign I love a book.

If you’re looking for a book that makes you think, feel, and reflect, How High We Go in the Dark is perfect. It’s not just a story about a plague; it’s a story about humanity, resilience, and hope.

Have you read How High We Go in the Dark? Did you love it as much as I did, or did you have a different experience? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Richard K. Morgan: Altered Carbon

 Hi everyone

 I've been hearing a lot about Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon so I wanted the find out what the buzz is about. This is the first book in the Takeshi Kovacs series. I read this on my e-reader.

"In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.
Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning. . . ."

This was okay.
The premise was interesting; the idea of saving your consciousness and then downloading it into a different body has great potential. But the book turned out to be a rather generic detective story with quite a few side things going on.
Honestly, I really didn’t care for any of it; the story, the characters, or the world. The writing wasn’t bad, and I can see why people like it: lots of action, a stern action-hero protagonist, and detective work. It’s just not my thing, it didn't keep my attention.

Altered Carbon is a solid sci-fi detective novel, but it didn’t grab me. If you enjoy cyberpunk, heroic detectives, and high-stakes action, you’ll likely enjoy it more than I did.

Have you read Altered Carbon? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading
Helena

N. K. Jemisin: The Killing Moon

 Hi everyone

Well, this book took me a long time to finish reading. I loved N. K. Jemisin's The Broken Earth series so I was very hopeful for The Killing Moon but it really fell short.
The Killing Moon is the first book in the Dreamblood duology. I got my copy from Bol.com. 

"In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and among the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers - the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe...and kill those judged corrupt.
But when a conspiracy blooms within Gujaareh's great temple, the Gatherer Ehiru must question everything he knows. Someone, or something, is murdering innocent dreamers in the goddess's name, and Ehiru must now protect the woman he was sent to kill - or watch the city be devoured by war and forbidden magic."

The story was sooo slow. And not because there was amazing worldbuilding or because the characters had wonderful depth. I still had a lot of questions about the magic and the world that were left unanswered. The characters stayed very much the same; I felt like they didn’t grow or develop much past the start of the novel. And there wasn’t much depth to them to begin with.

Because I loved The Broken Earth series so much, I will try something else by N. K. Jemisin, but it will not be the second book in this duology.

Have you read The Killing Moon? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading
Helena

Lucy Holland: Sistersong

 Hi everyone

I just finished Sistersong by Lucy Holland. The book has a gorgeous cover but I read it on my e-reader.
It's only 360 pages but it felt way longer.

"Inspired by the dark folk ballad “The Two Sisters”, interweaving the perspective of a third sibling that history forgot, Sistersong is a rich and lyrical tale in the tradition of Circe and The Bear and the Nightingale—the story of three daughters of a pagan king who each have their own magical gift, and their own price to pay, when war comes to their land.
In the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, there is old magic to be found in the whisper of the wind, the roots of the trees, the curl of the grass. King Cador knew this once, but now the land has turned from him, calling instead to his three daughters. Riva can cure others, but can’t seem to heal her own deep scars. Keyne battles to be seen for who she truly is—the king’s son. And Sinne dreams of seeing the world, of finding love and adventure.
All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold, their people’s last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. However, change comes on the day ash falls from the sky. It brings with it Myrdhin, meddler and magician. And Tristan, a warrior whose secrets will tear them apart.
Riva, Keyne and Sinne—three sisters entangled in a web of treachery and heartbreak, who must fight to forge their own paths.
Their story will shape the destiny of Britain."

The writing was okay, a bit simple though not overly so. But the language is too contemporary for the setting. The dialogue and characters are all written in modern-day English, with modern ideas that don’t fit in this historical setting. I’m not sure religion and tolerance were so deeply questioned or accepted back then.
My main problems were the convenience of the magic and the characters. The workings of the magic and the timing were too perfect a fit for the story. When it works or doesn’t, who can do what; it all felt way too convenient to fit what’s going on and where Holland wants the story to go.

Now, about the characters: All three sisters read like teenagers, especially the drama between them and the romantic aspects all three have. The mother and father have no depth, neither do the priest and the magician. Everyone is very one-sided.
As important, in my opinion, Keyne should have stayed a woman and become the strong, confident, independent warrior she really is. Or she should have come into her own as a man but not a warrior. To combine them both made it too much of a stereotype, wherein the man is the fighter and leader and the woman stays meek. As if she can only be a warrior if she’s a man. This really took the book down for me.

I wouldn’t recommend reading this.

Have you read Sistersong? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading
Helena

Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens

 Hi everyone

This is my review for Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens. I read my husband's copy. 

"100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens.
How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come?
In Sapiens, Dr Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical – and sometimes devastating – breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, palaeontology and economics, he explores how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities. Have we become happier as history has unfolded? Can we ever free our behaviour from the heritage of our ancestors? And what, if anything, can we do to influence the course of the centuries to come?
Bold, wide-ranging and provocative, Sapiens challenges everything we thought we knew about being human: our thoughts, our actions, our power ... and our future."

This was really, really interesting and fascinating. I enjoyed every second. There were so many things to think about and connections I didn’t see before. It’s incredibly engrossing.
Things I already knew were put into a new light or a different perspective, and every chapter made me think about our history and future. The book is easy to read and definitely written for non-scientists, but it’s not sensational or dramatic either. It’s unbiased, it sticks to facts, and whenever Yuval Noah Harari speculates, he states so clearly.

Sapiens is highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand humanity’s journey and reflect on where we’re headed.

Have you read Sapiens? Did it change your perspective as much as it did mine? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena    

Stephen King: Pet Sematary

 Hi everyone

I finally read one of Stephen King's absolute classics; Pet Sematary. And what a ride it was!
I got my copy from Bol.
You can find all my Stephen King reviews here.

" The house looked right, felt right, to Dr Louis Creed. 
Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago.
Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive note of threat.
But behind the house and away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully clear path up into the woods where generations of local children have processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial.
A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding... "

This was so heavy. Especially now that I have children (3 and 7 years old), it really hit me differently. The moment Gage dies and every word after chilled me to the bone. Before this scene, the book was good but not amazing. But after his death, it turns really dark and terrifying.
It’s horror, but in a psychological way. It makes you doubt yourself and question how you would react, how your sanity would fare.

The writing is perfect for this novel. It’s easy to read, atmospheric, and there’s a chill in the air from the first chapter. It’s hard to put down; but I did, and frequently, because I felt chilled, short of breath, and terribly sad.
The last 50 or so pages were absolutely mental.

Pet Sematary is not just a horror story; it’s a deeply unsettling exploration of grief, love, and the lengths we go to in desperation. It lingers with you long after you finish it.

Have you read Pet Sematary? Did it haunt you as much as it did me? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena