“Keep swimming. Or if that’s too hard, at the very least, float.”

Where Sleeping Girls Lie follows Sade (shah-day) Hussein as she enters boarding school after being homeschooled all her life. After only one night in the academy Sade’s roommate, Elizabeth, suddenly disappears. The school doesn’t seem to care about Elizabeth’s disappearance so it is up to Sade and Baz, Elizabeth’s best friend, to find out what happened. Only this investigation leads to a darker and sinister secret.

This book gave off a dark academia Mean Girls vibe in the beginning and I loved that!!! The beginning was good and intriguing. There was all this mystery surrounding Sade that made me really curious about her. The middle was slow for me but I did enjoy the academia and the little sprinkles of investigation and having all these unanswered questions. The book did pick up around 60-65% and everything started to connect together.

Reading this made me angry, sad, and then angry again. This book, its characters, and their stories might be fictional but they very much mirror our ugly reality. It deals with misogyny, toxic masculinity, rape culture, and how perpetrators of a certain demographic can get away from doing the vilest things.

I may not have loved this as much as Ace of Spades but Àbíké-Íyímídé once again did not miss in delivering such thought provoking messages.

Please check trigger warnings before reading!!!!!

Content Warnings

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

“The truth didn’t make sense. But it was the only thing that did. Rachel Price was back and Bel had lost her mind.”

The Reappearance of Rachel Price tells the story of Bel whose mother suddenly appears after being missing for sixteen years. Rachel’s reappearance shakes the whole Price family, especially Bel who thinks Rachel isn’t telling the truth and is hiding something big, something that has to do with her disappearance all those years ago.

This book was a wild ride and even though the middle of it was a little slow for me I still enjoyed it. I had a lot of suspicions and gut feelings throughout the book, some were right or close to being right, and some weren’t. What I didn’t expect were the twists!!!!

Bel was an okay character. Rachel, her mom, suddenly appeared and life as Bel knows it changed in an instant. She wanted things to go back the way there were and her trust/abandonment issues really influenced her thoughts and actions. I found her to be stubborn and her tunnel vision stressed me a lot throughout this book.

Rachel, now that’s an interesting character. Disappearing mysteriously and then suddenly appearing after sixteen years while the Price family are being filmed for a documentary about her, too!!! She was acting very suspicious throughout the whole book that I couldn’t blame Bel for doing what she’s done.

Thank you Delacorte Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 3 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

3.75

“It may be true that you have only half a soul, Dora. But that does not make you half a person.”

Half a Soul was like if Bridgerton had faeries and magic in it. The main character, Dora, had half of her soul taken by a faerie when she was a child and she hasn’t been the same since.

As I was reading this, I couldn’t help but think that Dora was on the autism spectrum and it didn't sit well with me at first the implication that having autism (or any neurodivergence) meant you only had half a soul. But as I kept reading and seeing Dora’s experiences, I understood why the author did that because Dora throughout the story wanted to “fix” herself to be “whole” again. I’m not neurodivergent (as far as I’m aware) but I struggle mentally so I can somewhat relate about wanting to be “whole”.

I think this book did a great job with Dora’s self-discovery and her learning to accept and love herself. Without spoiling anything, I still enjoyed the book and I’m relieved the story went the direction that it did (gonna pretend the last line in the epilogue doesn’t exist).

The romance was pretty slow burn, which I loved!!!! I liked Elias as his own person and as a love interest. He doesn’t show it to everyone but he has a soft heart. I admire his determination to help people as much as he can. His acceptance of Dora is lovely, I like that he loved her the way she was and did not want her to change a thing.

More...

moonlitreading_'s reviews 382 reviews

moonlitreading_'s reviews
382 reviews