These Deadly Prophecies by Andrea Tang

Posted on by lynndellwatson

A fun, spooky read!
Tabatha apprentices for the famous and magical Solomon. He states, through several prophecies, that he will die. It’s a shock to everyone when he actually dies and it’s a brutal death. Tabatha is told by Solomon, before his death, to only trust his son Callum and no one else. Callum and Tabatha try to solve the murder mystery but get swept up in the unknown along the way.

Likes/dislikes: This book is such a fun read! I loved the spooky atmosphere and the mystery. Tabatha is a strong, persistent, interesting character.
Mature content: PG for kissing.
Language: R for 50 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG for deaths.
Ethnicity: The Solomon family members are white and Tabatha is Chinese American.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan

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Alternating timelines in this engrossing mystery!
15yo Sana moves into a decrepit large house in Africa with her father. The other residents say it’s haunted and this makes Sana curious. She asks the other residents questions about the house and its past and she explores everything and every place in the house. In the attic, Sana discovers a diary and she reads until the ending. What she finds, haunts her and she hopes there’s more of the story to unravel.

Likes/dislikes: The book is slow and builds the setting and characters until the second half when the mystery piqued my interest and grabbed my attention. I found it fascinating that Sana was a conjoined twin but she’s the only one who survived and now Sana sees and hears her dead sister. I loved discovering the background of the haunted home that is the setting for this story.
Mature Content: G for kissing.
Language: PG-13 for 14 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: Indian and African with some white.

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Beautifully descriptive fantasy!
18yo Niamh is invited to the Avalon palace as head seamstress for Prince Kit’s wedding preparations. He’s as haughty and rude as ever and much more than Niamh expected. 19yo Kit is angry at the world but Niamh has no idea why. Sinclair, Kit’s lifelong best friend, is the first and only person that treats Niamh kindly and as a friend instead of some lowly servant. The three of them become friends and help each other break down the personal barriers they’ve put up but political pressure, intrigue and scheming threaten to crush everything they’ve gained.

Likes/dislikes: The book is full of interesting characters. The author approaches self care and mental health graciously. Political intrigue dominates the book and creates a nicy mystery. Beautiful descriptions are found throughout the book. Humor is used perfectly.
Mature Content: PG-13 for petting.
Language: R for 25 swears and 8 f-words.
Violence: G
Ethnicity: falls to white.

That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Clever mystery!
A 17yo young woman wakes up in a ditch and has no idea how she got there. A police officer drives by, sees her, helps her and takes her to the police station where he questions her and realizes that she has lost her memory. She has a flashback of standing by a cluster of postal mailboxes and big hands grabbing her but she remembers nothing else. Soon after, a man arrives asking the police officer for help in finding his missing daughter. Alternately, a community is searching for a missing teenage girl that disappeared while walking home. Could this be the same girl?

Likes/dislikes: The mystery kept me glued to the pages. The characters are an interesting and diverse set of personalities. The mystery unravels cleverly.
Mature content: G
Violence: PG-13 for bloody hitting and bloody death.
Language: R for 156 swears and 83 f-words.
Ethnicity: falls to white.

Her Dark Wings by Melinda Salisbury

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Persephone and Hades retelling!

17yo Corey discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend Bree. This devastates her and she feels like they’ve been laughing at her behind her back the whole time. Corey is so hurt and angry that she wishes Bree would die and soon after, Bree drowns. Now Corey regrets her wish and wants Bree and their friendship back. When Corey thinks she sees Bree and chases after her, she falls into the Underworld and her life is turned inside out.

Likes/dislikes: I didn’t like Ali, the boyfriend, because of his selfishness. The character development is well done. Fantastic world building.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied sex and underage drinking.
Language: R for 25 swears and 21 f-words.
Violence: PG for hitting.
Ethnicity: falls to white.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Tenacity, bravery, and loyalty!
26yo Opal fiercely takes care of Jasper, her teenage brother, and has been his guardian since their mother drowned twelve years ago. Opal is bound and determined to give Jasper a promising future away from Eden, Kentucky. She earns money with part time jobs until she starts cleaning for Arthur Starling, the owner of Starling House. She knows there’s something off about the house but she doesn’t care. Opal just wants to earn money for Jasper to attend private school and Arthur pays nicely, even though the longer she stays there, the more she sees the strange goings on and can’t seem to pull herself away.

Likes/dislikes: I love Opal’s tenacity, bravery, and loyalty to her brother. The I was pulled into the story because of the mystery surrounding Starling House. I like how the author shared the background of the community, characters and Starling House.
Language: R for 172 swears and 63 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied sex, off page.
Violence: PG-13 for self harm blood sacrifice.
Ethnicity: The ethnicity falls to white Jasper has a brown skin father.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Beautiful prose!

18yo Effy loves literature and desperately wants to attend the literature college but has settled for the architectural college where she’s the only female student. Her advisor has taken advantage of her and holds it over her head and now she’s shunned by the other students. She applies for the chance to draw plans for her favorite author’s new home, partly to escape the stigma surrounding her at school and mostly to get the opportunity to meet the late author’s family and see his home where he wrote her favorite works. She’s surprised but thrilled when she’s chosen. When Effy arrives at the manor, she’s shocked at its dilapidated state and the darkness that seems to surround it. She meets Preston, a literature student writing his thesis on the same author, and Ianto, the enigmatic son who runs the manor and wants Effy to quickly draw the blueprints for the updated manor. The mysterious surroundings pull Effy and Preston into dangerous territory and they have to fight for everything they believe in if they’re going to survive.

Likes/dislikes: An absolutely perfect example of magic realism. Effy is a strong character struggling with the lack of rights for women. Preston is a gentleman through and through.
Mature Content: PG-13 for sex with minimal detail
Language: PG-13 for 14 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for sexual harrasment and bullying by classmates.
Ethnicity: Ethnicity is predominantly white. Preston has fawn-colored skin.

The Lotus Flower Champion by Pintip Dunn

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Thailand folklore retelling!

17yo Alaia struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder and she’s taking a trip to Thailand with her parents to give her terminally ill mother a last trip of peace. Before they reach land, there’s an explosion on the yacht and her family is separated. Alaia and her mother wake up stranded on an island with ten others from the yacht. Things just get weirder and more dangerous as they discover they are on an island where Thai folklore comes to life. They soon find out that they are the main characters in the legends and they’re going to have to fight for their lives.

Likes/dislikes: I appreciate the folktales of Thailand resources the author shares at the end of the book. I enjoyed the premise of folktales coming to life. This book is a quick and easy read.
Mature Content: PG for kissing.
Language: R for 38 swears, no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody fight.
Ethnicity: Asian American is dominant. The yacht captain is white. Preston is white. Lola and Rae have warm brown skin. Elizabeth is white. Sylvie is Filipina.

Haunted Mansion: Storm & Shade by Claudia Gray

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Spooky fun!
Audrey Perez, her brother and their parents are moving to New Orleans and she will be attending a girls only private high school. Audrey doesn’t want to leave her old house or her boyfriend Chase behind but her family is hoping that the move will help her anxiety.
Audrey accidentally finds a haunted mansion and thinks she hears her boyfriend’s voice calling to her from inside, so she goes in. Once she enters, she’s enthralled by the atmosphere and the library. Audrey gets possessed by three spirits, one at a time, a guitarist, a ship captain, a jazz loving evil man and each spirit helps her find a key. Once she starts collecting the keys, she sees and feels an ominous fog coming for her.

Likes/dislikes: I like the spookiness level of the book. I found the possessive spirits interesting because they were each unique. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the story.
Language: PG-13 for 10 swears, no f-words.
Mature Content: G for holding hands.
Violence: PG for danger.
Ethnicity: Audrey Perez is of Spanish descent. Tatum Stewart is Scottish. Iris Boone is African American.