readingwitherin's reviews
1610 reviews

Murder Road by Simone St. James

4.5

This book had me on the edge of my seat multiple times. I struggled to figure out what was going to happen next and how exactly all of these disappearances/murders were connected to the main couple. 
April and Eddie are newlyweds going to a resort for their honeymoon, but after a wrong turn they end up picking up a hitchhiker who is bleeding, and end up involved in an investigation where they are the main suspects. As the local police don't really seem to know what is going on either, and April and Eddie are just as confused as they are they start trying to figure out what exactly happened on their own. This brings them to talk to multiple different locals, and learn the backstory of the area they are in which is quite messy and complicated. But the biggest thing that we learn along the way is the secrets that both April and Eddie have been keeping from each other when it comes to their pasts which makes this entire police investigation even messier. These complications made the story far more entertaining and makes you start questioning if maybe they are somehow involved in all of this in some weird drawn-out way. 

Overall I did enjoy this book and it kept me guessing the entire time. It wasn't until almost the end that I was able to start piecing it together, and even by that point I was so unsure what was going to happen because of how many times I'd been wrong before when it came to this book. 

Having said that, the ending of this book is good and does fit the story and this town. 
Highly recommend to all mystery fans. 

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

4.0

This short story was a very welcome break after the more series reads I've completed this month.

Untethered Sky is such a fun read because we get to see this entirely new world where there are these giant birds that they can control that help protect the people from these dragon-like creatures (not sure if they were dragon like or not but that's what the description reminded me of). Ester is one of the few young women who have a bird they are in charge of and because of that, we see her rather isolated except for one person who she has become friends with. Throughout this story we see Ester and this friend help protect different villages, but we also see them deal with loses. 

Overall this was a really fun short story. I think it could potentially be a whole novella series if the author wanted it to be because it could follow so many other characters that we meet that are vital in this world. 

Highly recommend if you want a short fantasy book that is outside of your usual reads. 

Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler

4.5

Reading this while the world is currently what it is is scary. It shows how one young woman is trying to figure out how to live in the world she lives in that is not safe. She's trying to figure out how to continue to keep herself and those she cares about safe, while those around her just want to continue on with how things are. It's the very real thing that so many young people are dealing with when wanting to make the world around them a better place. We see our main character finding ways to protect herself, figuring out what she believes is the right thing to do, and how to plan even just a little bit for the future. 
Overall I do think this is a must-read for everyone as the world around us is changing rapidly and we need to be more focused on community and keeping those we care about safe. 

I ended up reading this one as a graphic novel, because I cannot get the novel version from any of my local libraries right now. 

Fence #5 by C.S. Pacat

4.0

We started to learn more about Seiji in the last book, and in this one we finally finally! Start to learn more about Seiji's past and why he came to this school when he could have gone to any of the other ones. With that we also see Seiji becoming more a part of the team and interacting with them more. Nicholas's skills improve and we learn more about his past as well. The team dynamic is continuing to grow and we are truly seeing who is going to potentially make it to the national team. 

Fence, Vol. 6: Redemption by C.S. Pacat

5.0

I know I've talked a lot about growth in this graphic novel series, but its true we have seen them all grow so much in just a few short moments. The power of sports is really happening with how they have all grown more confident in their abilities in fencing and outside of fencing. Their personal relationships with each other have also grown and we've seen them become better people. It's just been so nice to see male friendships growing in a healthy way for a change. 


The ending of this one! OMG! We've seen them change so much and I cannot believe I am fully caught up on these volumes and now have to wait to see what happens next if we are even getting any more in this world. 

Fence, Vol. 4: Rivals by C.S. Pacat

3.5

Until this point, we have seen how Fencing is mainly a solitary sport with the person being up on the stand alone against an opponent. However, there is a team element to it and we get to see that more so in this one as they compete against one of their biggest rivals. 
With this, we get to see Harvard's leadership as well as how Nicholas does under pressure, and of course Seiji's skill set as well. Having said this though Seiji is still not the best team player, and is still focused on the individuality of the sport it seems where as Nicholas and several of the others enjoy the team part of it more. 
Like in the other ones learning Fencing through this graphic novel series has been fun and I loved seeing it in action. 

The Answer is No by Fredrik Backman

fast-paced

5.0

Backman's ability to tell a story in very few words is one that is amazing. He is able to make you feel all of the emotions, from anger, to frustration, to sadness all while showing different people's lives in this story. While we are told time and time again the power of the word "No" this story brings it to life, because if he had just said No from the start it would have ended and he would not have gotten dragged into the situations that our main character was. Having said that though this book also shows how easy it is to get involved in something you want no part in because of just being nice. While being nice is important, saying No can also be important in order to protect your peace. 

Great story and I highly recommend it. 

Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker

3.0

This was a rather creepy book that I had no real idea where it was going at any point in time. Being hired to haunt homeowners for a tv show is something that I've never heard of before but it is an interesting idea. The ways they did the 'haunting' were interesting, and the little twists between the tv crew that were happening were interesting as well. 
I feel like I'll need to re-read this one in the future to pick up on more clues of the mystery aspect. 

Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

In my effort to go back to reading more non-fiction again I decided to pick this one up. 

It was very interesting to see how the strong men are all similar throughout history. They surround themselves with others who they believe will help them strongmen ideals, while they themselves have multiple different addictions outside of that to authority. This book is one that I feel will become more and more relevant as time goes on and we learn more about the history of different countries and the smiliarites between their leaders. 
 

Fence #3 by C.S. Pacat

4.0

While in the first two volumes, we only really focus on Nicholas and his fencing abilities and get little side stories. This one we finally get to start to learn more about Seiji, as he starts to take an interest in Nicholas's fencing abilities. This interest is one that is in part because they share a room, but also because Seiji starts to notice how absolutely determined Nicholas is to get better and to beat him. 

The growth is continuing in this volume and I think we'll start to see that growth paying off in the next volume.