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stacyrenee's reviews
383 reviews
North Child by Edith Pattou
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
MG
Fantasy
Set in Bergen, Norway, with lots of traveling/adventuring over land and sea to La Rochelle, France, etc.
Fantasy
Set in Bergen, Norway, with lots of traveling/adventuring over land and sea to La Rochelle, France, etc.
Norse mythology + cartography
Beaty and the Beast meets The Snow Queen even though this is a retelling of ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’.
Very enjoyable!
This started out with a large family that cares very much about the superstition of the direction a baby is born in, that attempts to keep their youngest daughter’s ‘north-ness’ from her, at least until another daughter becomes deathly ill and a talking white bear appears to take the youngest, Rose, to save the elder sibling. Very ‘Beauty and the Beast’.He even takes her to a magic castle in France!
Then curiosity gets the best of her and he is whisked away to an ice castle in the far north by a pale queen (very ‘The Snow Queen’!) and Rose must attempt to save him.
Even though these themes are overly familiar to me, I really enjoyed this. It’s full of adventure, a bit of magic, a really slow-build love story, and a happy ending!
I’m looking forward to the sequel; West!
Very enjoyable!
This started out with a large family that cares very much about the superstition of the direction a baby is born in, that attempts to keep their youngest daughter’s ‘north-ness’ from her, at least until another daughter becomes deathly ill and a talking white bear appears to take the youngest, Rose, to save the elder sibling. Very ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
Then curiosity gets the best of her and he is whisked away to an ice castle in the far north by a pale queen (very ‘The Snow Queen’!) and Rose must attempt to save him.
Even though these themes are overly familiar to me, I really enjoyed this. It’s full of adventure, a bit of magic, a really slow-build love story, and a happy ending!
I’m looking forward to the sequel; West!
American Melancholy: Poems by Joyce Carol Oates
dark
informative
4.0
Adult
Nonfiction
Poetry collection
4 stars
I’m not sure if I’ve ever read anything by Oates in my life and it’s a name I’ve seen on books and whatnot for decades but I didn’t know what I was going into with this one.
These poems include heinous bits of American history, some so disturbing that I had to put my e-reader down temporarily to either look up the full story behind the poem or because the content was so shocking and discomforting that I needed a moment before continuing. Topics include psychological experiments with babies and animals, abortion, war, and more.
Nonfiction
Poetry collection
4 stars
I’m not sure if I’ve ever read anything by Oates in my life and it’s a name I’ve seen on books and whatnot for decades but I didn’t know what I was going into with this one.
These poems include heinous bits of American history, some so disturbing that I had to put my e-reader down temporarily to either look up the full story behind the poem or because the content was so shocking and discomforting that I needed a moment before continuing. Topics include psychological experiments with babies and animals, abortion, war, and more.
Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
4.0
Fantasy
Fairytale retelling
A retelling of Beauty and the Beast minus the red flags of just about every other version of this story!
Very cottage core.
There are chickens. And gardening. 😆
Fairytale retelling
A retelling of Beauty and the Beast minus the red flags of just about every other version of this story!
Very cottage core.
There are chickens. And gardening. 😆
The Winter Guest by W.C. Ryan
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
I had a hard time connecting to the plot or characters.
The Chestnut Soldier by John Keating, Jenny Nimmo
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
5.0
MG
Fantasy
Set in Wales
The third book in the Magician Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo, starting with The Snow Spider & Emlyn's Moon.
I read The Snow Spider every year of elementary school but they did not have the sequels... but I'm in my 30's now and finally had the chance!
This was a fantastic ending to Gwyn's magical story, with more magic, magicians, and family reverie. It was a wonderful ending.
Fantasy
Set in Wales
The third book in the Magician Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo, starting with The Snow Spider & Emlyn's Moon.
I read The Snow Spider every year of elementary school but they did not have the sequels... but I'm in my 30's now and finally had the chance!
This was a fantastic ending to Gwyn's magical story, with more magic, magicians, and family reverie. It was a wonderful ending.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Adult
Psychological thriller
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2.75-3 stars
Theo, a criminal psychotherapist attempts to dig into the mind of an institutionalized woman said to have murdered her husband while coming to terms with his own relationship woes.
This one is a bestseller that I’ve been seeing mixed reviews on for years and decided I’d have to make my own opinion + I found a secondhand copy so here we are.
It has a major plot twist at the end but I found it to be very predictable and unsurprising (I got a lot of bad vibes from a certain character right off the bat). I did enjoy the writing and the subtle duplicity in the main characters. I’ve seen so many say it was very unpredictable and very thrilling though so don’t let my mini review dissuade you if books like this are your jam 🫶
Psychological thriller
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2.75-3 stars
Theo, a criminal psychotherapist attempts to dig into the mind of an institutionalized woman said to have murdered her husband while coming to terms with his own relationship woes.
This one is a bestseller that I’ve been seeing mixed reviews on for years and decided I’d have to make my own opinion + I found a secondhand copy so here we are.
It has a major plot twist at the end but I found it to be very predictable and unsurprising (I got a lot of bad vibes from a certain character right off the bat). I did enjoy the writing and the subtle duplicity in the main characters. I’ve seen so many say it was very unpredictable and very thrilling though so don’t let my mini review dissuade you if books like this are your jam 🫶
Father Christmas and Me by Matt Haig
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Middle-Grade
Fantasy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is the third book in the ‘A Boy Called Christmas’ trilogy by Matt Haig and illustrated by Chris Gould.
I’ve been reading this trilogy to my daughter around Christmas for the past few years and I think we started this last year but didn’t finish so we started over to finish the series!
In this third book, Amelia from ‘The Girl Who Saved Christmas’ is living with Father Christmas in Elfhelm but Father Vodel is determined to turn the opinion of all elves on humans, sowing fear and discord amongst the village instead of joy and good tidings. Can Amelia save Christmas once again?
Fantasy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is the third book in the ‘A Boy Called Christmas’ trilogy by Matt Haig and illustrated by Chris Gould.
I’ve been reading this trilogy to my daughter around Christmas for the past few years and I think we started this last year but didn’t finish so we started over to finish the series!
In this third book, Amelia from ‘The Girl Who Saved Christmas’ is living with Father Christmas in Elfhelm but Father Vodel is determined to turn the opinion of all elves on humans, sowing fear and discord amongst the village instead of joy and good tidings. Can Amelia save Christmas once again?
The Gathering by C.J. Tudor
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Adult
Horror Thriller
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫3.75 / 5 stars
I was in need of some winter horror and this gave heavy ‘30 Days of Night’ vibes with being set in Alaska in winter in a world where vampires live amongst us in small, rare colonies and are a legally protected species
but this is more of a murder mystery with a small town horror plot twist that includes some sexually explicit / vulgar material that took away from the overall story for me.
Horror Thriller
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫3.75 / 5 stars
I was in need of some winter horror and this gave heavy ‘30 Days of Night’ vibes with being set in Alaska in winter in a world where vampires live amongst us in small, rare colonies and are a legally protected species
but this is more of a murder mystery with a small town horror plot twist that includes some sexually explicit / vulgar material that took away from the overall story for me.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
5.0
Adult
Sci-fi
Romance
I had no idea what I was going into with this one but ended up rather blown away by the writing, overall story, and the unique romance, which is slowly built through correspondence between two beings separated by time and space; Red & Blue.
There isn’t a lot to this novella and doesn’t go into any of the sci-fi elements or the war that seems to be going on, and I was honestly a bit confused throughout the entire thing, but the love story is worth the read.
Sci-fi
Romance
I had no idea what I was going into with this one but ended up rather blown away by the writing, overall story, and the unique romance, which is slowly built through correspondence between two beings separated by time and space; Red & Blue.
There isn’t a lot to this novella and doesn’t go into any of the sci-fi elements or the war that seems to be going on, and I was honestly a bit confused throughout the entire thing, but the love story is worth the read.
The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Adult
Dark Fantasy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This dark fantasy retelling of The Nutcracker was the perfect read for this time of year! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Born on Christmas morning, twin newborns Clara and Natasha catch the interest of the local sorcerer and are cursed to be complete opposites of each other, one Light, one Dark. Natasha lives in her beautiful sisters’ shadow but gets her chance at revenge and takes the spotlight, but at what cost?
A siblings behaving badly story, full of magic, unrequited love, and the sour stink of revenge. 🎄🧚♀️🍬🍭🩸
Dark Fantasy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This dark fantasy retelling of The Nutcracker was the perfect read for this time of year! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Born on Christmas morning, twin newborns Clara and Natasha catch the interest of the local sorcerer and are cursed to be complete opposites of each other, one Light, one Dark. Natasha lives in her beautiful sisters’ shadow but gets her chance at revenge and takes the spotlight, but at what cost?
A siblings behaving badly story, full of magic, unrequited love, and the sour stink of revenge. 🎄🧚♀️🍬🍭🩸