Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin by Nancy Springer

Posted on by lynndellwatson

The most dangerous enemy…

Enola is at the graveyard and hears a chiming bell. She finally pinpoints the sound at a burial site and when it’s dug up, a young woman, Trevina is inside. Trevina doesn’t remember her name or how she ended up in the burial site. Enola takes Trevina to her helpful acquaintance Florence Nightingale to nurse her back to health and hopefully recover her memory. While Enola helps Trevina regain health and memories, she also wants to help Sherlock with his nemesis, Moriarty.

Likes/dislikes: I love how the reader is introduced to Florence Nightingale and we get a glimpse of her home. Enola is as persistent and intelligent as always. The whole Moriarty mystery is interesting and ominous.
Language: PG for 3 swears.
Mature Content: G – none.
Violence: PG for attack and kidnapping.
Ethnicity: Falls to white.

The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Escape rooms all around!

Avery and three Hawthorne brothers, Nash, Jameson and Xander, create a game together with seven players. The winner gets a million dollars. The players are forced into teams as they are locked into different escape rooms, securing teammates. Gigi, Knox and Brady become a team; Savannah and Rohan are a team; Grayson, Lyra and Odette are a team. They must work together to escape their rooms and make it to the dock by dawn the next morning. Avery and the Hawthornes know how to figure out riddles and they know how to create difficult ones. Who will make it to the dock first?

Likes/dislikes: I thoroughly enjoyed the riddles that the contestants had to solve. The mysterious watcher creates suspense and an added tension! Wonderful character development.
Language: R for 47 swears, no f-words.
Mature content: PG for gentle kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: Rohan has light brown skin. Knox is white. Brady has ebony skin. Lyra has golden tan skin.

Quicksilver by Callie Hart, Fae & Alchemy #1

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Intense fantasy fiction for adults!

Great writing, originality and mystery all rolled into one!

Saeris Fane steals a valuable gauntlet from a guardian of Queen Madra after he throws it down in exasperation dealing with her. She runs and gets to third ward only to have the guardians find her brother with the gauntlet after she unthinkingly hands Hayden her bag. She gets Hayden away from the guardians by telling him he’s a burden so he is angry and won’t give himself up in her place. She’s taken to the palace. She meets Queen Madra, beautiful but unhinged and paranoid, speaking of the Fae to Saeris. The Queen sends Saeris to be executed by a guardian and when she’s close to death, the quicksilver pool in the palace starts to move and the guardian’s dagger melts and burns him while dropping to the floor and moving towards the pool. A large man rises out of the pool, grabbing Saeris and the last thing she thinks is that he must be death.

The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie

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Twisted fairytales!

Clara is determined to save her lost mother from the Forest Grimm where she wandered into three years ago. Her best friends Axel and Henni join Clara and they want to save Henni’s lost sister also. The Forest Grimm changed when a curse happened in Grimm Hollow and twisted the magic that used to be helpful to the villagers. The three are in danger of becoming lost themselves because the Forest moves and changes. They are surrounded by creatures who want to cause them harm. They can only trust each other and hope that trust is enough to save them.

Likes/dislikes: Axel’s gift for finding silver linings in any situation is charming. I enjoyed the story of the young ghost, Ollie. It adds a bit of spookiness and melancholy. The author wove a creepy tale of twisted magic.
Mature content: PG for kissing.
Language: PG for 3 swears.
Violence: PG for death.
Ethnicity: falls to white.

One Wrong Step by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Intense historical fiction!

Atlas and his parents love to climb mountains together. When his mother gets sick, the doctors suggest taking her to stay with grandparents who live in Utah because the air is dry and should help her. When Atlas and his father leave to climb King’s Peak, he says a casual goodbye to his mother, not realizing that will be the last time he speaks to her because she dies while they are away. Atlas and his father throw themselves into mountain climbing after that and end up in Nepal to climb Mt. Everest. They join a team set to reach the unreachable, the Summit of Mt. Everest. Atlas will face the fight of his live and must make the toughest of choices.

Likes/dislikes: I like how the author includes a definition at the beginning of each chapter. The setting is extremely interesting with the threat of World War II hanging over the story. The characters are believable.
Mature content: G
Language: G for 0 swears.
Violence: G
Ethnicity: predominantly white

All Better Now by Neal Shusterman

Posted on by lynndellwatson

What choice would you make?

The Crown Royale virus seems to be everywhere and it either becomes fatal or creates a happy mindset in survivors. Mariel and her mom are homeless and she believes that the virus would make life great but her mother doesn’t. Ron, the youngest of six children, hosts his rich father’s Airbnb and welcomes people to stay for four nights at the beautiful penthouse for a very cheap price. This will be the last stay before the penthouse closes. His father is wanting to live in isolation so they don’t catch the virus and give all their money to charity because they’re out of their right minds, all caused by the Crown Royale virus. Morgan reaches her internship meeting, where she meets with a very rich woman who has recently been diagnosed with Crown Royale and wants to bequeath everything to Morgan to eradicate the virus. Ron becomes an alpha-spreader, Mariel is immune, Morgan wants to do everything possible to eradicate the virus and after inheriting tons of money and partnering with Ron’s extremely rich father, she has the means to.

Likes/dislikes: I love the inclusion and representation of several different ethnicities and cultures. The stories of random people and encounters intrigued me and helped cement the nature of the virus and its effect on people. I enjoyed how the author explored the choices people made and their actions. Interesting story.
Mature content: PG for kissing.
Language: R for 65 swears and 6 f-words.
Violence: PG for death.
Ethnicity: Ron is of Spanish descent. Morgan is Eurasian, Mariel is white.

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall

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A monster hurricane changes the world!

Nonie lives in the American Museum of Natural History in New York because of the immense hurricane and other intense storms that have swept over the world. When a huge flood hits the museum, Nonie leaves with her sister Bix, their father and their family friend Keller. They are heading to their Aunt Clare’s house. On the way, they fight nature as the storms increase in strength, the wild and unknown. They try to stop for rest from the river and shelter from the rain but meet Lost, two men that only seem to want to harm. Father gets shot, Bix also gets shot and Keller gets pneumonia from jumping into the dirty river to rescue their boat from the strong currents. Will any of them survive?

Likes/dislikes: The story has an interesting premise and dystopian plot. The author made the main characters flawed and relatable. I like that the story was carried on by hope, even when everything seemed lost.
Mature content: G for kissing.
Language: PG-13 for 13 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: mixed.

Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Social media stunt turns deadly!

I couldn’t put the book down!

Adele enters an online live adult hide and seek competition. The winner receives one million dollars and she can really use it for her family after her husband left them when he embezzled funds and ran away. Her son Blake and daughter Violet support Adele completely and want her to be safe and win too. The game site is a decrepit, condemned hotel on an island and all seems fine until the game begins and a storm heads their way!

Lightlark by Alex Aster

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Who can be trusted?

Isla leads the Wildlings and she meets all leaders of the other realms for a competition at Lightlark. Celeste is the Starling leader and Isla’s good friend and together they want to break the curse that settles on every realm. When Isla slips and falls into the sea, King Oro saves her from drowning even though her death would be taken as a sacrifice for the realm to lift the curse; one of the realm leaders must die at the Centennial celebration to satisfy the curse. Grim, the Nightshade leader, seems taken with Isla but she’s not sure if he’s sincere or conning her. Isla has stolen clothes to be able disguise herself as a woman from the other realms so she can enter their libraries and search for the bond breaker that can break the curse for everyone. Her life is endangered at every turn as she tries to hide that she’s completely powerless. She has no idea who she can trust.

Likes/dislikes: I love the beautiful descriptions and the variety of interesting characters. The author creates an amazing world and I didn’t want to stop reading. New and refreshing fantasy.
Mature content: PG-13 for touching and kissing.
Language: PG for 1 swear and 0 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: a mix of fantasy people and different colors of natural skintones.

Stealing Infinity by Alyson Noel

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Mystery-filled fantasy!

Natasha is slowly giving up on herself, her life and her future. Mason, her best friend, tries to keep her afloat by always being there for her. Mason tells Natasha to steer clear of Elodie because she’s shallow and doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Elodie talks Natasha into skipping school to go to a club. This choice is going to change Natasha’s life forever.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed Stealing Infinity because it’s a fantasy that has several mysteries hidden within. I also liked the book because it encompasses many genres including fantasy, mystery, science fiction and historical fiction. Natasha is a dynamic character as are Braxton and Elodie.
Mature content: PG-13 kiss.
Language: R for 87 swears and 2 f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death and attempted rape.
Ethnicity: Mason is Black, Natasha and Elodie are white, Keane has dark skin, Javon has golden brown skin, Hawke has bronze skin , Oliver has white skin, Song is oriental, Braxton has a European accent and is white.