hooksbookswanderlust's reviews
781 reviews

When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this one. I’d heard so many good things about it being the next big fantasy series, and I was super excited to find the audio available on Hoopla, but I’m on the fence. That said, I was also on the fence after reading ACOTAR for the first time (the first book, not the whole series) in a “I could take it or leave it” kind of way.

On the one hand, you have a sassy, badass, female assassin for the FMC, a missing block of memories, dragons and the promise of romance. On the other hand, it was all pretty derivative (several Throne of Glass parallels), the dragons were more peripheral than central story elements though they are supposed to be very important in this world, a world that I can’t tell you much about except that one place is cold and one is hot. Also, I kept imagining Kaan as Khal Drogo. 

I wish there had been more examples of Raeve’s badassery shown or more scenes with the Other, but what really cinched my frustration with this book is that it yields one of my least favorite tropes: miscommunication - specifically, willful ignorance. It went on for far too long and while WE know what she doesn’t by the end of the book, she does not, nor does she show signs that she wants to find out. Honestly, I’m not sure I cared enough about ANY of the characters in this one. Not yet anyway. Maybe Kaan because that torch he held for his love is pretty romantic. Tragic, but romantic. 

Still, I find myself intrigued by a few things in the story and am curious to see how the story unfolds. My first read of ACOTAR got a 3.5 star rating which I knocked down to 3 upon my re-read because I was so annoyed by the FMC. Since I’m in the same boat with Raeve, I’m giving this an even 3 stars. Doesn’t mean I won’t read the next one in hopes that, like Feyre, Raeve pulls her head out of her butt.

The Midnight Prince: A Cinderella Retelling by Angie Grigaliunas

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is my pick for my 2025 Book Challenge for March: Fairytale Retellings. For more recommended reads and details about the challenge, see my blog post here.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! Cinderella has always been my favorite fairytale, so when I saw this on Kindle Unlimited, I thought it would be perfect for this month’s prompt. I was expecting total fluff with a fae twist, and it definitely was that, but I didn’t expect it to be quite as developed as it was.

There isn’t a lot of character development, the book is primarily plot driven, but the characters felt honest and real to me. Despite their minimal development, they were still able to evoke the feels.

I found it well written and well plotted, if a little predictable, but very enjoyable. There’s mystery, romance, magic and royalty, and zero spice, so I’d feel comfortable recommending to teen readers. If she had wanted to, I think the author could have developed this further and made it longer, more complex, and I would have been there for it, but it was a nice palate cleanser between deeper reads.

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I hope you enjoyed this review! This review and many more appear on my blog, Hooks, Books, & Wanderlust, where you'll find book reviews, lists, crochet tutorials & patterns, as well as camping, hiking and travel adventures.

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Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book floored me from the Forward. Talk about a hook! I’ve never consumed a nonfiction book as readily as I consumed this one. And the Forward was just the beginning. This book not only hooked me but held me all the way to the last word. In fact, in my group chat with my girlfriends, I was regularly blasting them with “oh my gosh, this book!”

I am not a person to take anything at face value, especially this day in age. If you want to convince me of something, you need hard facts and evidence. Criado Perez delivers on every front. Those things don’t typically make for a riveting read (or listen as in this case), but Criado Perez presents this data in a way that is both approachable and eloquent, turning facts and figures into something you actually want to keep reading and making the case for implicit bias against women undeniable.

The audiobook version is read by the author, who in my humble opinion sounds like a fast-talking Emma Watson. I definitely had to slow down my normal 1.5x speed so I could properly digest what I was hearing and make sense of the data. It’s clear in both the speed in which she speaks and the tone she takes that she is passionate about this topic, which went a long way to keeping me rapt. That said, I would consider this a fast-paced audiobook but if I were eyeball reading it, I would say it would likely be a slow-paced book due to all the facts and figures.

The book starts by describing the concept of the default male, the idea that men, specifically straight, white men, are the standard or norm in society and the world is designed around their bodies, experiences, and behaviors. She goes on to cite countless studies and examples where the data collected for products, systems, and policies are focused primarily, if not entirely, on men, resulting in a failure to accommodate women’s needs. This can lead to poorer living circumstances, poorer health, and dangerous goods and services for women. She acknowledges that the failure to include women in data collection is not necessarily done out of malice, but is often because it is too complicated or because of a complete oversight of the need to include women, circling back to the default male concept.

From medicines that don’t work correctly in women’s bodies, car seats and seatbelts that are built for male bodies, down to voice recognition technology that yields far more errors for women’s voices than it does for men’s or phone sizes designed for men’s larger hands making it harder for women to hold, Criado Perez shines a light on all the ways, big and small, that the gender data gap hurts women and by virtue humankind. There was even a crochet reference! In the Afterward, Criado Perez talks about the mathematician Daina Taimina, who solved a problem that had stumped male mathematicians for years to the point they were ready to give up. Her male counterparts had been endeavoring to create a model of the hyperbolic plane, unsuccessfully, until Taimina attended a workshop about the topic and noted how she could model it easily with crochet. All it took was a single woman’s perspective to solve this years-long problem. Why? Because crochet is a typically female hobby. Also, if you’re a crocheter, you should check out Taimina’s models! She took one look at the men’s paper model and said, I can do that better with crochet! Read about her experience here.

This book is smart, insightful, and surprisingly hard to put down. I loved everything about it and can’t recommend it enough!

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I hope you enjoyed this review! This review and many more appear on my blog, Hooks, Books, & Wanderlust, where you'll find book reviews, lists, crochet tutorials & patterns, as well as camping, hiking and travel adventures.

Come hang out with me on Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Blog | Email 

Every Beautiful Mile by Ashley Manley

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was drawn to this book because it’s so rare to find romance books written for middle-aged women about middle-aged women. The FMC is the same age as me with roughly the same number of years married, and similarly aged kids. Being able to relate to that age and stage is a novelty I couldn’t pass up.

This romance was so much more than I could have hoped for. I was afraid it would prove triggering or depressing, but what I got was beautiful writing, insightful reflections, and an intimate portrayal of grief and its healing process.

I loved Nel’s relationship with her family and especially appreciate the portrayal of parenting teens. I loved the the road trip, the “Forced Fun,” and the serendipitous moments with people they met along the way that lent Nel perspective.

I really really loved Ethan. I love how patient and understanding he was, how safe he made Nel feel, and how he loved her. Plus those steamy scenes!

Such a beautiful, emotional, healing and hopeful read. This was my first book by this author and won’t be my last!

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I hope you enjoyed this review! This review and many more appear on my blog, Hooks, Books, & Wanderlust, where you'll find book reviews, lists, crochet tutorials & patterns, as well as camping, hiking and travel adventures.

Come hang out with me on Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Blog | Email 

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 

I liked this book, but not as much as I wanted to like it. A scrappy young woman caring for her teen brother for years after they were both orphaned, a man determined to do what he thinks is right at his own expense, small town secrets, a house that’s alive, monsters that roam the mist invisible to all but a select few, flocks of birds and inexplicable occurrences, it should have made for one heck of a read, but it just didn’t really come together the way it should have.

This book was definitely a slow burn, and I admit to being bored through much of it, not really getting into it until the last 20% of the book. Still, as boring as I found it, it was relatively easy to keep flipping pages. The writing itself is what you would expect from Harrow: beautiful, prosaic at times, insightful, with a handful of passages that stood out.

There were several themes in the book but they either didn’t do enough to make the point or came too late to be meaningful. Found family, racism, class differences, small towns, prejudice, all some of the themes she was working toward that sadly fell short of the mark.

As a gothic paranormal mystery/thriller, I liked it but I’m not sure I’d recommend it.
 
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I hope you enjoyed this review! This review and many more appear on my blog, Hooks, Books, & Wanderlust, where you'll find book reviews, lists, crochet tutorials & patterns, as well as camping, hiking and travel adventures.

Come hang out with me on Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Blog | Email 

Scythe & Sparrow by Brynne Weaver

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Another great read/listen and a great conclusion to this trilogy. I still think I preferred the original narrators from B&B but they were still great and I appreciate the consistency from L&L. 

If B&B was more light-hearted romcom with lots of laugh out loud moments and L&L was more enemies to lovers angst, S&S was more emotional and healing though it still had me grinning like an idiot. I probably liked B&B the most of the three because it made me laugh out loud a ton, but this was a close second. It still had the quirky characters, crazy OTT situations and stabby bits, but this was actually a really sweet story!

I was annoyed by Rose’s lack of planning in her early shenanigans, but it’s who she is and it worked out in the end. I LOVED the crochet rep here, as a fellow yarnie. This might have given me a new project idea. ::eyebrow wiggle:: I also loved the letters. Who doesn’t love a good epistolary romance? Plus, the epilogues were fantastic!

It sounds like there will be a spin off, so I’m excited to see what the future holds.

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

3.0

I really enjoyed this series! This was much much slower than the other books. There was a lot of waiting for action then there was a LOT of action, and less of the diabolical schemes we’ve come to expect. Some parts felt easy or contrived to move the plot forward but they were minimal. Still, I really enjoyed it and it was a fitting conclusion to the series.

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

5.0

This is the second time we’ve chosen this author for a book club pick, and it’s little wonder why! Adrienne Young has a gift with words, writing in ways that connect us with the characters and story in magical ways. Psst, check out previous BWSBC pick Spells for Forgetting.

Young writes unique and compelling stories with a transportive atmosphere that permeates every story I’ve read of hers, and June Farrow is no different. This story is so richly layered and complex. It was mind-bending in the best ways! It is a beautifully-crafted, immersive story with magical realism time travel elements, a bit of romance, a small town setting, and a rich family history. If you enjoyed Spells for Forgetting, you won’t be disappointed with this one.

A family curse, a long-buried secret, a mysterious disappearance, an unsolved murder, and a life she can’t remember, June has a lot going on. As June comes to terms with the confounding concept of time travel and its repercussions, the story asks the question, who do you trust when everyone is keeping secrets and you can’t trust anyone, even yourself?

Trying to follow along with the breadcrumbs and keep up with the varying timelines made me wonder if the madness that afflicted the Farrows had come for me too, but in the best way. I admit that I didn’t fully understand the time-travel until pretty much the last 20% of the book. But given that our main character was trying to make sense of it as well, I don’t think we were supposed to figure it out any sooner. That confusion really immersed me in the story and blinded me to a surprise I didn’t see coming.

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Young delivers another stellar example of magical realism, writing in that way she has that will leave you looking for doors of your own to step into places unknown.

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This title was a Books, WIPs, + Sips Book Club Pick!

Grab your WIP and something to sip, then check out our book club discussion of this title! Get to know my co-host for the month and then take a deep-dive into this book with us!

Want to be there live? BWSBC meets live the last Tuesday of the first month of every quarter (clear as mud?) on Instagram Stories Live at 7pm CST. Find out more about our book club and find out the current month's pick here. I hope to see you there!

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I hope you enjoyed this review! This review and many more appear on my blog, Hooks, Books, & Wanderlust, where you'll find book reviews, lists, crochet tutorials & patterns, as well as camping, hiking and travel adventures.

Come hang out with me on Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Blog | Email

The Heir by Ava Rani

4.0

This has been a fun series so far. Great characters and a story that is sweet, steamy, and just enough angst to make it grab you.

The Porcelain Maker by Sarah Freethy

1.0

DNF at 27%

I struggled to get into this book. I considered DNFing it at about 20% and soldiered on a little longer but it just didn’t grab me. The characters were flat and I couldn’t connect with any of them in either timeline. The scenes felt truncated and too short to get any emotion across and I was dreading the obligation I felt to pick it up. The plot sounded interesting but it was just not executed well.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.