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oashackelford's Reviews (351)
Evangeline Fox had a broken heart, so she did the only thing that she could think to do, she prayed to a Fate to fix it. Despite countless warnings never to make deals with the Fates, she strikes a deal with the Prince of Hearts where she owes him three kisses, each of which he will tell her how to perform them. At first she thinks this will fix her happily ever after and return her true love to her, but she soon starts regretting ever meeting the Fate in the first place.
I loved this book. Stephanie Garber is an excellent world builder. She builds up the world through the storytelling and it never feels like she is laying out all of the rules to her world in one go, but she does effectively teach you the rules through her main character making the story feel grounded. I was surprised that she was able to do it so seamlessly, I didn't feel confused really at any point about why something was happening and it all feels true to the world and characters that she built.
This book has big fairytale themes throughout which makes it a really fun read for a modern fairy tale about a girl with pink hair.
I loved this book. Stephanie Garber is an excellent world builder. She builds up the world through the storytelling and it never feels like she is laying out all of the rules to her world in one go, but she does effectively teach you the rules through her main character making the story feel grounded. I was surprised that she was able to do it so seamlessly, I didn't feel confused really at any point about why something was happening and it all feels true to the world and characters that she built.
This book has big fairytale themes throughout which makes it a really fun read for a modern fairy tale about a girl with pink hair.
Agatha Christie has long been an author that has mesmerized her audiences with her clever detectives and hidden-in-plain-sight clues. In this book Lucy Worsley presents Agatha's work in the context of her life. The things that were influencing her work at the time of writing, and the things in her life that caused her to escape into her work.
I think this is a very well written Biography of a woman who seemingly wrote compulsively. I think that Worsley gives a very fair presentation of Agatha's life, presenting both favorable and unfavorable theories about her marriages and disappearance, as well as attempting to draw conclusions to Agatha's feelings that we aren't privy to.
I do think that some subjects seem to get repeated a little too often, like Agatha's disappearance, but otherwise a really good read. Worsley is my favorite historian as of late for the context and light that she brings to the subjects that she covers. This book helps Christie come to life and I am excited to go back and read more of Christie's work with this biography in mind.
I think this is a very well written Biography of a woman who seemingly wrote compulsively. I think that Worsley gives a very fair presentation of Agatha's life, presenting both favorable and unfavorable theories about her marriages and disappearance, as well as attempting to draw conclusions to Agatha's feelings that we aren't privy to.
I do think that some subjects seem to get repeated a little too often, like Agatha's disappearance, but otherwise a really good read. Worsley is my favorite historian as of late for the context and light that she brings to the subjects that she covers. This book helps Christie come to life and I am excited to go back and read more of Christie's work with this biography in mind.
Lizzie Bennet wants nothing more than to be a solicitor at her father's firm, and for Mr. Collins to stop stealing credit for her sleuthing skills. Mr. Bennet agrees to give Lizzie a chance, provided she finds her own case and solves it first. So when Mr. Bingley is accused of murder Lizzie attempts to convince him to let her be his solicitor, however Mr. Darcy is already representing him, and he and Lizzie have different ideas of how to clear his name. Bingley hires both of them and they have to start working together to share their information and get their client's charges cleared.
I really loved this re-imagining of pride and prejudice. It stayed faithful to the original while giving Lizzie more to do in her time period. Although it is not historically accurate it is a really fun imagining of what the regency era would be like if Lizzie were able to hold a job and be an excellent detective. I thought that the author worked the characters in well and that the story resolved itself nicely. I am really excited for her next book in this same series!
I really loved this re-imagining of pride and prejudice. It stayed faithful to the original while giving Lizzie more to do in her time period. Although it is not historically accurate it is a really fun imagining of what the regency era would be like if Lizzie were able to hold a job and be an excellent detective. I thought that the author worked the characters in well and that the story resolved itself nicely. I am really excited for her next book in this same series!
Lucy Worsley, historian and BBC presenter, invites us to consider our fascination with murder through the lens of famous British murders, both fictional and realistic. Starting with Thomas de Quincy's essay "Murder as a fine art" all the way through the novels of the Golden Age of the detective, she uses different stories to illustrate the way that real life murders influenced the literary appetites of the common people and how in turn they inspired works of fiction. She also helps the reader follow changing attitudes of the times before, in between, and after the world wars and how they shaped moral attitudes and what people wanted from their detective and crime fiction.
I thought this book was really well paced and balanced real crimes and how they were dispersed to readers and fiction and how it was spoken of as times changed. I think that she did a good job discussing what our fascination with murder is, and how crime changed with the industrial revolution and war. I do wish that she had included some more modern murderers, such as Dr. Crippen, but I still think it was very well done.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys true crime, detective fiction, and history.
I thought this book was really well paced and balanced real crimes and how they were dispersed to readers and fiction and how it was spoken of as times changed. I think that she did a good job discussing what our fascination with murder is, and how crime changed with the industrial revolution and war. I do wish that she had included some more modern murderers, such as Dr. Crippen, but I still think it was very well done.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys true crime, detective fiction, and history.
Evangeline's prince is dead and although she has been cleared of all charges her story is not over. Jacks still wants her to open the Valory arch and she needs to know why. She still can't shake the feeling that everyone is manipulating her as she does her best to try and stay ahead of their evil plans.
I loved this sequel so much. I wish I had known how much I was going to love this before reading it because the third book won't be released until September.
I loved this sequel so much. I wish I had known how much I was going to love this before reading it because the third book won't be released until September.
Spoiler
I literally don't know how to write about this book without giving something away. I loved this book so much, I just didn't know that it was going to break my heart at the end. I don't think Jacks was being manipulated by the mirth stone the way that Evangeline thought he was, and I am heartbroken that she doesn't have her memories. I think this is one of the best books I have read in a long time where I couldn't guess everything that was going to happen, and that has been really refreshing.
Scarlett and her sister Tella live on the Island of Trisda with their abusive father dreaming of escape. Scarlett hopes that her upcoming wedding to a Count will offer her and her sister an opportunity for a better life, but Tella doesn't believe that anyone who would make a deal with their father could be a good man. For years Scarlett had been writing to the magical traveling troupe Caraval in hopes of receiving an invitation to see their magical game and on announcing her upcoming nuptials, Scarlett finally receives an invitation. The game is not what it appears though, and if Scarlett can't figure out how to win the game before her wedding, she might not ever see her sister again.
I thought that this novel was very well written. I think Stephanie Garber has a talent for world building and for grounding her universes in enough reality that the reader is able to find them consistent and somewhat realistic. I think that in order for world building to be successful you need to be able to introduce it to your audience in steps, and make sure that you are consistently following any rules that you set yourself in order to make fantasy realities feel more realistic. I also loved the characters. I maybe wished we had gotten to know Tella a little more before they entered the game, because the reader can tell how much Scarlett cares for her, but it would have felt more desperate if we knew her better also. Still, I think that if you love a little magic and fantasy that this is a great novel for you.
I thought that this novel was very well written. I think Stephanie Garber has a talent for world building and for grounding her universes in enough reality that the reader is able to find them consistent and somewhat realistic. I think that in order for world building to be successful you need to be able to introduce it to your audience in steps, and make sure that you are consistently following any rules that you set yourself in order to make fantasy realities feel more realistic. I also loved the characters. I maybe wished we had gotten to know Tella a little more before they entered the game, because the reader can tell how much Scarlett cares for her, but it would have felt more desperate if we knew her better also. Still, I think that if you love a little magic and fantasy that this is a great novel for you.
What if George Washington had accepted the offer to become King of the United States when it was first offered to him? What if, instead of a president and a first family, we had a royal one? American Royals aims to find out. Following the lives of the first family and some of their friends, American Royals delves into some of the complexities and problems of having a modern royal family. Like for Beatrice, heir apparent, who has no control over her love life, and whose parents are pushing her to marry a son of a duke. Or Samantha, who loves her sister, but wishes that she had more power to affect change, instead of just being the spare. Like Nina, who has always been Sam's best friend, but who has been in love with the prince for as long as she can remember. Like Daphne, the prince's ex -girlfriend, who will do anything to get him back, because as far as she is concerned, no one deserves to be a princess more than her.
If you love reality tv and any plot where the characters can't be with the people that they love because they are bound by the duty of their office, then this book is for you. I think that it has all the intrigue of the crown and a lot of interesting parallels between these characters and the current English monarchy. Katherine McGee creates a realistic American monarchy with relatable characters that you root for easily. I can't wait to continue this series!
If you love reality tv and any plot where the characters can't be with the people that they love because they are bound by the duty of their office, then this book is for you. I think that it has all the intrigue of the crown and a lot of interesting parallels between these characters and the current English monarchy. Katherine McGee creates a realistic American monarchy with relatable characters that you root for easily. I can't wait to continue this series!
If you like detective stories and love the works of Agatha Christie then this is a good read. This collection of short stories showcases Poirot's abilities as he methodically takes you through each of his shorter investigations.
I will say that I didn't like these as much as her novels that include Poirot, simply because I didn't feel like I got enough time with each of the characters to form theories. One of my favorite things about reading Agatha Christie is when you think you have the measure of the character and then she reveals more information and you realize you couldn't have been farther from the truth. Then, several chapters later you will get still more information and realize you were on the right tack the entire time and at the end realize that you had no idea who the murderer was the entire time. Or that you had part of the plot correctly guessed, but not all of it.
This is a great read though, and as always Poirot remains and funny, fastidious little man that makes you smile.
I will say that I didn't like these as much as her novels that include Poirot, simply because I didn't feel like I got enough time with each of the characters to form theories. One of my favorite things about reading Agatha Christie is when you think you have the measure of the character and then she reveals more information and you realize you couldn't have been farther from the truth. Then, several chapters later you will get still more information and realize you were on the right tack the entire time and at the end realize that you had no idea who the murderer was the entire time. Or that you had part of the plot correctly guessed, but not all of it.
This is a great read though, and as always Poirot remains and funny, fastidious little man that makes you smile.
Slasher Girls & Monster Boys
Kendare Blake, Jonathan Maberry, Marie Lu, April Genevieve Tucholke, Nova Ren Suma, McCormick Templeman, Jay Kristoff, Carrie Ryan, Megan Shepherd, Cat Winters, Leigh Bardugo, Stefan Bachmann, Danielle Paige, A.G. Howard
Slasher Girls and Monster Boys is a collection of short horror stories that will give you goosebumps. Written by fourteen different authors, most of them not typically known for horror, each story in this collection tackles a slightly different subject in the horror genre. Some have unreliable narrators, and some, while not being scary, are just creepy.
I thought that this was a great collection. One of the reviewers of this book mentioned that in this collection girls are not automatically murdered in every single story, which is refreshing. While I didn't enjoy every story that I read, I did enjoy most of them and a few of them I will be thinking about for a long time to come.
Because each story is so different I will leave a small review of each one with no spoilers. I may mention a detail from the stories, but never the ending, or any twists.
The Birds of Azalea Street
This one out of all of them creeped me out the worst. I think that by far it might be the creepiest story in the collection. I think that any time a story starts out with a creepy neighbor watching teenage girls I am gonna get the heebie jeebies because it is just so wrong. This is the kind of story that makes you look over your shoulder when you are reading it because you feel like you are being watched. 4/5 stars
In the Forest Dark and Deep
This story was my favorite from the collection. a girl finds a clearing in the woods that looks like it would be the perfect place to have a tea party, so she returns to it day after day to find things like a table and tea cups have been added. I think this one was my favorite because you can tell where the author drew their inspiration from and because the inspiration is so obvious the author uses it to play with the reader's predictions. I also think this story creeps up on you slowly. When I read it, I had no way to guess the ending, but when the ending finally arrived I was well and truly creeped out. 5/5 stars.
Emmeline
A girl knitting alone in her bedroom is approached by an American Soldier during World War 1, and she asks him to stay with her. I don't think that this story was super creepy, or scary, but it does fit well into the horror genre. This may have been the most poetic of all the stories in the collection. "The flirty old moon eased his way across the warped and sooty floorboards and kissed my bare toes, turning my feet as luminous as the skin of the cinema stars." I think that the use of language in this story lulls the reader into a false sense of calm, making it harder to see what the outcome will be.
Verse Chorus Verse
This was my least favorite story so far. In this story a teen starlet is forced into rehab as a punishment from a recent DUI. The only problem is that something is wrong with the rehab facility. I didn't like this story because I didn't understand what was supposed to be happening with it. I know that in short horror stories you are never going to get the full picture of what is happening, but they usually also get to the point about why something is scary, so that even if they don't explicitly tell you why something is happening you as the reader can still draw your own conclusions. I felt like the author introduced three different reasons that something was going down at this rehab facility and then didn't wrap any of those ideas up. It was really difficult to tell what exactly it was that was causing all of the problems and it wasn't clear why these kids were being punished or what we were supposed to be scared of. 2/5 stars
Hide-and-Seek
I love any story where the main character dies on the first page and tries to play a game to cheat death. As always, death lets you pick the game and if you win it, you get to live. I thought that this story was a lot of fun because it gave you the feeling that death was around every corner and you never knew what he would try next. 5/5 Stars
The Dark, Scary Parts and All
This story is maybe the least memorable in the collection. A girl in an ELA class sympathizes with Frankenstein's monster because out of all the characters in the book we hear from him the least. Because of her bold choice she is noticed by the cutest boy in school. I don't think that this story is predictable or poorly written, it just wasn't very interesting or scary. Unfortunately without giving anything away I can't say exactly why. 2/5 Stars
The Flicker, The Fingers, The Beat, The Sigh
Several teens, who get drunk while hanging out, accidentally hit a classmate of theirs with their car. Fearing for their futures, they have to decide what to do with the body. I really liked the set up for this story because you think you know where it is going the entire time, but it never ends up where you think it will. While I do think it was well written, it doesn't give you a dawning sense of horror or the creeps so this story got knocked down a few pegs because of that. 3.5/5 Stars
Fat Girl with a Knife
A fat girl is ruthlessly picked on by the kids at her school, but she never takes it lying down. She also never takes it too far, once her revenge is over she leaves her tormentors alone unless they pick on her again, and no one has ever tried it twice. Even though she is picked on, she doesn't have a mean bone in her body, so when she finds one of her tormentors crying in the bathroom she aims to comfort her, until things go awry. I don't think that I can say anything about this one other than it was well written and I would have like more examples of her getting revenge on her bullies. 4/5 Stars
Sleepless
I really thought that I knew how this one was going to end, but the author played on my preconceived notions and flipped the script on me. A young man and a girl are chatting online until one night the girl says that she has been ousted from her home and needs a safe place to go. The young man hesitates as he wasn't ready to meet yet, but nonetheless agrees. 5/5 stars
M
A murder is committed in front of a blind girl, but the blind girl noticed the murderer's distinctive smell. Now she has to find out who he is before he catches on to the fact that she knows and murders her or anyone else. I really liked this one, but I have been reading a lot of Agatha Christie lately and I got caught up in wanting to know why the murders were being committed in the first place. That is on me though. 5/5 Stars.
The Girl Without a Face
A young man is tormented by a ghostly girl with no face. The reader struggles to understand why this girl is tormenting him until more of the story is revealed. I struggled with this story a little bit. It wasn't bad, I just thought that it was a little boring.
3/5 stars
A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow
Five men go hunting in the North for a girl with white hair that they can sell to a southern man for a lot of money. However, after catching her they get a lot more than they bargain for. I thought that this story was really interesting, but I would have liked to understand more about what illness was killing off the southern women, and what culture the northern girl came from, just to give the story more context. 4/5 stars
Stitches
An abusive man sees the error of his ways and is told about an experimental surgery where the parts of him where sin live can be replaced with body parts from a cadaver who was righteous. The theory is that the parts from the righteous person will enable him to make better life decisions, but the person who must help him with is operations is his daughter. This tale reminds me of gruesome gothic style horror stories and I really enjoyed it. 5/5 Stars
On the I-5
A fourteen year old girl is in a diner alone waiting to retrieve a dead body, but all the wrong kinds of men keep laying eyes on her. I really wasn't sure where this story was going but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think that if the author ever decided to expand this story into a book that would give us more details about the girl's life, mission, or how this cycle got started, I would be very excited to read it. Instead for now I will have to draw my own conclusions. 5/5 Stars
I thought that this was a great collection. One of the reviewers of this book mentioned that in this collection girls are not automatically murdered in every single story, which is refreshing. While I didn't enjoy every story that I read, I did enjoy most of them and a few of them I will be thinking about for a long time to come.
Because each story is so different I will leave a small review of each one with no spoilers. I may mention a detail from the stories, but never the ending, or any twists.
The Birds of Azalea Street
This one out of all of them creeped me out the worst. I think that by far it might be the creepiest story in the collection. I think that any time a story starts out with a creepy neighbor watching teenage girls I am gonna get the heebie jeebies because it is just so wrong. This is the kind of story that makes you look over your shoulder when you are reading it because you feel like you are being watched. 4/5 stars
In the Forest Dark and Deep
This story was my favorite from the collection. a girl finds a clearing in the woods that looks like it would be the perfect place to have a tea party, so she returns to it day after day to find things like a table and tea cups have been added. I think this one was my favorite because you can tell where the author drew their inspiration from and because the inspiration is so obvious the author uses it to play with the reader's predictions. I also think this story creeps up on you slowly. When I read it, I had no way to guess the ending, but when the ending finally arrived I was well and truly creeped out. 5/5 stars.
Emmeline
A girl knitting alone in her bedroom is approached by an American Soldier during World War 1, and she asks him to stay with her. I don't think that this story was super creepy, or scary, but it does fit well into the horror genre. This may have been the most poetic of all the stories in the collection. "The flirty old moon eased his way across the warped and sooty floorboards and kissed my bare toes, turning my feet as luminous as the skin of the cinema stars." I think that the use of language in this story lulls the reader into a false sense of calm, making it harder to see what the outcome will be.
Verse Chorus Verse
This was my least favorite story so far. In this story a teen starlet is forced into rehab as a punishment from a recent DUI. The only problem is that something is wrong with the rehab facility. I didn't like this story because I didn't understand what was supposed to be happening with it. I know that in short horror stories you are never going to get the full picture of what is happening, but they usually also get to the point about why something is scary, so that even if they don't explicitly tell you why something is happening you as the reader can still draw your own conclusions. I felt like the author introduced three different reasons that something was going down at this rehab facility and then didn't wrap any of those ideas up. It was really difficult to tell what exactly it was that was causing all of the problems and it wasn't clear why these kids were being punished or what we were supposed to be scared of. 2/5 stars
Hide-and-Seek
I love any story where the main character dies on the first page and tries to play a game to cheat death. As always, death lets you pick the game and if you win it, you get to live. I thought that this story was a lot of fun because it gave you the feeling that death was around every corner and you never knew what he would try next. 5/5 Stars
The Dark, Scary Parts and All
This story is maybe the least memorable in the collection. A girl in an ELA class sympathizes with Frankenstein's monster because out of all the characters in the book we hear from him the least. Because of her bold choice she is noticed by the cutest boy in school. I don't think that this story is predictable or poorly written, it just wasn't very interesting or scary. Unfortunately without giving anything away I can't say exactly why. 2/5 Stars
The Flicker, The Fingers, The Beat, The Sigh
Several teens, who get drunk while hanging out, accidentally hit a classmate of theirs with their car. Fearing for their futures, they have to decide what to do with the body. I really liked the set up for this story because you think you know where it is going the entire time, but it never ends up where you think it will. While I do think it was well written, it doesn't give you a dawning sense of horror or the creeps so this story got knocked down a few pegs because of that. 3.5/5 Stars
Fat Girl with a Knife
A fat girl is ruthlessly picked on by the kids at her school, but she never takes it lying down. She also never takes it too far, once her revenge is over she leaves her tormentors alone unless they pick on her again, and no one has ever tried it twice. Even though she is picked on, she doesn't have a mean bone in her body, so when she finds one of her tormentors crying in the bathroom she aims to comfort her, until things go awry. I don't think that I can say anything about this one other than it was well written and I would have like more examples of her getting revenge on her bullies. 4/5 Stars
Sleepless
I really thought that I knew how this one was going to end, but the author played on my preconceived notions and flipped the script on me. A young man and a girl are chatting online until one night the girl says that she has been ousted from her home and needs a safe place to go. The young man hesitates as he wasn't ready to meet yet, but nonetheless agrees. 5/5 stars
M
A murder is committed in front of a blind girl, but the blind girl noticed the murderer's distinctive smell. Now she has to find out who he is before he catches on to the fact that she knows and murders her or anyone else. I really liked this one, but I have been reading a lot of Agatha Christie lately and I got caught up in wanting to know why the murders were being committed in the first place. That is on me though. 5/5 Stars.
The Girl Without a Face
A young man is tormented by a ghostly girl with no face. The reader struggles to understand why this girl is tormenting him until more of the story is revealed. I struggled with this story a little bit. It wasn't bad, I just thought that it was a little boring.
3/5 stars
A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow
Five men go hunting in the North for a girl with white hair that they can sell to a southern man for a lot of money. However, after catching her they get a lot more than they bargain for. I thought that this story was really interesting, but I would have liked to understand more about what illness was killing off the southern women, and what culture the northern girl came from, just to give the story more context. 4/5 stars
Stitches
An abusive man sees the error of his ways and is told about an experimental surgery where the parts of him where sin live can be replaced with body parts from a cadaver who was righteous. The theory is that the parts from the righteous person will enable him to make better life decisions, but the person who must help him with is operations is his daughter. This tale reminds me of gruesome gothic style horror stories and I really enjoyed it. 5/5 Stars
On the I-5
A fourteen year old girl is in a diner alone waiting to retrieve a dead body, but all the wrong kinds of men keep laying eyes on her. I really wasn't sure where this story was going but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think that if the author ever decided to expand this story into a book that would give us more details about the girl's life, mission, or how this cycle got started, I would be very excited to read it. Instead for now I will have to draw my own conclusions. 5/5 Stars
This Sequel to Caraval follows Donatella Dragna on her quest to find her missing mother, and Legend's true identity. Following the last game, Tella makes a deal with someone in Valenda in order to find her mother, who went missing eight years ago, and for payment has to find out Legend's identity. According to the performers of Caraval, Legend is going to show himself to whomever wins the game this year. Tella needs to win in order to save her mother, but she is warned that if she wins the game she will pay too high a price, and regret the cost.
I thought this was a fantastic sequel to the first book. In the first book Scarlett's stakes were high, but not as high as Tella's. I love any story that can make you feel like any decision that the character makes is going to cause them pain, but they must still decide on something. I also loved the setting of Valenda with all of its crazy temples dedicated to the Fates. There is a part of me that sometimes wishes I could completely forget everything about a story so that I could enjoy it again for the first time, and I felt that way about this book.
I thought this was a fantastic sequel to the first book. In the first book Scarlett's stakes were high, but not as high as Tella's. I love any story that can make you feel like any decision that the character makes is going to cause them pain, but they must still decide on something. I also loved the setting of Valenda with all of its crazy temples dedicated to the Fates. There is a part of me that sometimes wishes I could completely forget everything about a story so that I could enjoy it again for the first time, and I felt that way about this book.