The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Posted on by lynndellwatson

25489134

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. Marina dies after giving birth to Vasya, who is supposed to be special and mysterious in the same way Marina’s mother was. Years later, when Vasya is a young girl, she wanders into the forest and gets lost. She meets two strangers. The first one is told to sleep by the second man. Vasya bolts and is found by her brother, Sasha. Vasya’s father decides to find a new wife so Vasya can have a mother to raise her. Pyotr returns from Moscow with his new wife, Anna. Anna sees strangers just as Vasya does, but she treats Vasya cruelly even though they have this in common. Vasya’s nurse, Dunya, loves Vasya unconditionally. When Dunya dies, Vasya asks for the help of her brother Alyosha. Alyosha truly believes Vasya and helps her to rid the village of evil. After Vasya was threatened with being sent to a convent, Anna bargains with her. If Vasya will venture into the frozen woods and gather snowdrop flowers for Anna’s daughter, Irina, then Anna will let Vasya stay home. While Vasya is in the woods, she’s saved and taken by the stranger, Morozko the Frost Demon, on the white horse. Set in the Russian wilderness and based on Russian history and folklore, this debut novel is beautifully written and imagined. I give it 5 stars because this is the perfect book to read in the middle of a snowy winter.

A Bend in the Willow by Susan Clayton-Goldner

Posted on by lynndellwatson

33150434

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to the author’s request for me to read and review A Bend in the Willow by Susan Clayton-Goldner! Maya Angelou opens the story with her quote, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Robin Lee changed her name to Catherine years ago to escape her painful past, but her husband knows nothing about her past experiences. She fabricated a life story. Their son Michael is in an accident on his fifth birthday and while assessing his health, the doctor finds leukemia. The only hope he has for recovery is a bone marrow transplant from a matching relative. Catherine goes to her hometown and faces her past head on. She meets her brother Kyle and he doesn’t believe that she’s Robin Lee. She approached him too abruptly about her son instead of first trying to ease the pain from their past. The past keeps blowing up in her face and she struggles, and so do her family members, with trying to take care of Michael. The innocence of children brought tears to my eyes and this story is tragic and beautiful at the same time – 5 stars – for this adult realistic fiction novel with kudos to perseverance and unconditional love and compassion!

First Contact by Kat Green

Posted on by lynndellwatson

41msuv4sz-l-_sx311_bo1204203200_

Thanks to YABoundBookTours for the opportunity to read and review First Contact by Kat de Falla and Rachel Green (Kat Green)!
First Contact marks the beginning of the Haunts for Sale series. Sloane is a paranormal real estate agent that searches for haunted houses that her customers want to purchase. She’s using this guise to search for her fiance, Michael, who was killed by a drunk driver just weeks before their wedding. He had a motto for being patient and now Sloane is following it to search for him: “…be patient and if things weren’t working out, give it a year and a day.” This is now Sloane’s mantra to keep her going. The haunting mystery holds suspense and creepiness throughout the whole story. The romance factor adds a nice, warm touch to the spooky tale. Lovable protagonists and horrible antagonists kept me on my toes! I give this book 4 stars and recommend it to anyone wanting a macabre, spooky adult read!

Faithful

Posted on by lynndellwatson

faithful-9781476799209_hr

Faithful by Alice Hoffman is a surprisingly uplifting book, even though a lot of sadness and turmoil take priority as the story unfolds. I received a book through a Goodreads giveaway and an advance reader copy for a fair review, thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster!

The books by telling the tragic story of two teenage girls involved in a car accident and what happens to both of them afterwards. Helene is in a coma and miraculously heals people by the touch of her left hand. Shelby feels guilty for not being as physically damaged as Helene and continues to blame herself for the accident because she was driving. Shelby has had to deal with horrible experiences even after the accident: trying to commit suicide, being sent to a psychiatric ward, being raped by an orderly in the ward and trying to deal with everything and still live a normal life. Shelby moves in with Ben, a guy she has known for a long time and this way, she finally gets out of her parents’ home and gains a little independence. She saves neglected pets, gets a job in a pet store and builds a relationship with Ben. Shelby meets new people, makes friends and makes some mistakes along the way. Shelby finally realizes she wants to improve her relationships and be more grateful for them. She has a wonderful mother and she finally realizes that also. Shelby’s world turns completely around after the accident, and then, eventually, her world turns around again. Through her struggles and trials, Shelby finally knows what she wants in life and how to let herself enjoy life and love. I give this book 5 stars because I became so involved with the characters and grew to understand parts of my own life more clearly through reading about Shelby! Thank you, Alice Hoffman!

When All the Girls Have Gone

Posted on by lynndellwatson

final_JAK.indd

“Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read and review When All the Girls Have Gone by Jayne Ann Krentz!

The story opens with the murder of Gordon Greenslade, which of course would pull any mystery fan into the book! Charlotte and her innocuous life are introduced and she meets Max Cutler, an investigator, who takes on Louise Flint’s homicide case. Louise supposedly overdosed and her laptop and cellphone are completely missing. Suspiciously, Trey Greenslade has her missing items and is searching for a hidden package. Twists and turns kept me reading and the book has a good story line and plot, but it was too drawn out for my taste. 3.5 stars!

Saving My Assassin

Posted on by lynndellwatson

book

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for the book of Saving My Assassin by Virginia Prodan. This memoir introduces Virginia Prodan in immediate danger in 1984, when her life was threatened. Chapter one takes us back to 1961, during Virginia’s childhood. Virginia grew up with abuse from her mother and taunting from her siblings. She is a real life Cinderella. Her upbringing was not to be the end of her struggles, though. With tremendous strength, Virginia shows us what she went through for her individual freedom and what she is willing to do for other’s freedom also. Learning about different cultures and symbolism is always interesting to me, even if I don’t agree or completely understand them. Communism feels confining, nerve-wracking and demoralizing. I appreciate the notes at the end of the book that clarify several questions that arose while I was reading Saving My Assassin. Courageous and inspiring – 4 stars!

All These Perfect Strangers

Posted on by lynndellwatson

all-these-perfect-strangers-9781925310726_hr

Thanks to NetGalley and Alibi for the arc of All These Perfect Strangers by Aoife Clifford! This adult mystery thriller begins with Penelope, Pen, visiting her therapist to receive a written report of how he feels she is doing after a tragedy has surrounded her. Part of the deal is, before Frank will write the report, Pen has to write down the truth and discuss it with him during future visits. Pen recounts her University days, as well as her days as a young girl in a different tragedy involving her best friend. The story unfolds spinning several more people into the problems on campus including drugs, deceit and murder. Suspenseful and heartbreaking, making All These Perfect Strangers a great read!

The Flame and the Arrow

Posted on by lynndellwatson

29774760

Thank you to Emigh Cannaday for the opportunity to read and review her book, The Flame and the Arrow! This new adult book begins with Annika, a musician who has recently broken up with her fiance and she is talking to her best friend, James, about the events in her life. Annika travels to her Uncle Vince’s home in Bulgaria for a well-deserved respite and to recover from the breakup. She goes for a hike in the wilderness and loses her way back to Uncle Vince’s home. She eventually sees a person and that person is someone she met in town earlier. Annika follows her and they end up in a cave with two other women. Things become strange as they are transported to a different world through a portal, which then closes. The three women reveal that they are wood nymphs and inform Annika that she is one too. She resides with an elven family after the portal has closed and everyone suspects that she belongs in their world. Finn and his father, Ambrose, show Annika the family tree and she discovers that she is part of their world through her mother’s ancestors. Annika begins to have a tumultuous relationship with Talvi, Finn’s brother. The family puts together a group that will be battle ready to find and rescue a member of the family that has been kidnapped, another interesting part of this story. Annika falls in love, learns a lot about herself and becomes somewhat transformed. The writing flows, character development is strong and the story and worlds are elaborate and interesting. The Flame and the Arrow is the beginning of a new adult series about Annika and her life entangled in mystery, intrigue, complicated relationships and romance!

All is Not Forgotten

Posted on by lynndellwatson

all2bis2bnot2bforgotten2bcover

 

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc of All is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker! Jenny Kramer attends a high school party where she is raped and left on the grass afterwards. A treatment to erase horrible memories from your mind has been created and is used on Jenny to erase the trauma. The treatment erases the memories from your mind, but they live on in the soul and body. Jenny can’t remember the rape because of the treatment, so she can’t point out the rapist, but she remembers useless information that she can’t place, such as a strong odor, a song, and why she was outside in the first place. I like how the story is told by the psychiatrist and, through his point of view, shows the emotional upheaval of everyone involved and the precarious nature of being a therapist. The whole controversy surrounding the memory treatment brings up a barrage of questions and what-ifs.

Another person, Sean Logan, has been given the memory treatment also, after he lost his SEAL comrades and his right arm while he was activated. The treatment has made healing difficult for Sean also.

The parental advice hits the nail on the head: “We need our parents to love us without condition, without logic, and beyond reason.” This is true for a person to be able to grow up with a strong self-esteem and would be ideal for all of us. The hypocritical statement made by the therapist about his own children soon after telling Jenny’s father to let his anger go, feels very selfish and one-sided. “If we can’t protect our own children, we are wretched.” Sad to say, the world is a big place and we can’t be with our children 24/7 and that is very hard on parents who want to be there for their children.

A lot of food for thought and the tables keep turning in this psychological thriller!

All of Us Were Sophie

Posted on by lynndellwatson

all-of-us-were-sophie-by-resa-nelson

Thanks to Resa Nelson for the opportunity to read and review her book, All of Us Were Sophie! The first chapter describes Sophie worrying that someone is trying to kill her and what she is doing about it. Her husband has invented a duplication machine that destroys the original, but will make several copies at once. Sophie duplicates herself in order to discover who is trying to do her in. The mystery of who is trying to do Sophie in just keeps getting deeper. Every time I thought I had the villain pegged, I found out I was mistaken. Alternating points of view build up the mystery and make it very unpredictable. All of Us Were Sophie is for anyone looking for a clean read mystery!