Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is a Halloween Freebie, so I chose to list my Recent Spooky Reads. Here’s my list:
1. The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter
2. Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
3. A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
4. Stalking Shadows by Cyla Panin
5. Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani
6. B*WITCH by Paige McKenzie and Nancy Ohlin
7. Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse
8. Spell on Wheels by Kate Leth, Megan Levens, Marissa Louise
9. Hush-A-Bye by Jody Lee Mott
10. The Hiddenseek by Nate Cernosek
(All book covers from Goodreads)
What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?
Title: The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story Author: Charis Cotter Genre: Middle Grade, Horror, Fantasy Publisher: Tundra Books Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: August 31, 2021 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
A creepy, mysterious dollhouse takes center stage in this atmospheric middle-grade mystery for fans of Doll Bones and Small Spaces.
Alice’s world is falling apart. Her parents are getting a divorce, and they’ve cancelled their yearly cottage trip — the one thing that gets Alice through the school year. Instead, Alice and her mom are heading to some small town where Alice’s mom will be a live-in nurse to a rich elderly lady.
The house is huge, imposing and spooky, and everything inside is meticulously kept and perfect — not a fun place to spend the summer. Things start to get weird when Alice finds a dollhouse in the attic that’s an exact replica of the house she’s living in. Then she wakes up to find a girl asleep next to her in her bed — a girl who looks a lot like one of the dolls from the dollhouse . . .
When the dollhouse starts to change when Alice isn’t looking, she knows she has to solve the mystery. Who are the girls in the dollhouse? What happened to them? And what is their connection to the mean and mysterious woman who owns the house?
Review:
When she finishes school for the year, Alice finds out her parents are getting divorced and they’ve cancelled their yearly summer cottage vacation. Instead, Alice and her mother travel to a small town so that her mom can be a live-in nurse for an elderly lady, Mrs. Bishop. Alice becomes friends with Lily, a developmentally delayed girl, who visits the home while her mother cleans it. The girls find a dollhouse in the attic that’s a perfect replica of that house. When Alice goes to sleep that night, she wakes up in a dream with a girl next to her. In her dream, she sees a family who lived in that house from the 1920s, and who look just like the dolls from the dollhouse. Then, things in the dollhouse change when Alice isn’t there. Alice has to figure out what the connection is between her dreams and the dollhouse.
This was a really creepy story. There were many similarities between Alice’s story and the story from the past in her dreams. There were train accidents in both stories. Alice’s friend Lily was developmentally delayed, and a girl named Bubbles was the same in her dream. The dollhouse was also an important aspect of the stories. Alice discovered it hidden away in the present storyline, but it was just being built in her dreams. Since the two storylines were quite similar, it was a little disorienting sometimes to figure out what was happening.
There were some more mature themes than I expected in a children’s book. Alice was concerned about her parents getting divorced. In her dream, her friend Fizz was also afraid of her parents getting divorced, and she caused a rift between them. There were also references to alcohol abuse and the death of family members. These mature themes increased the tension in the story.
The Dollhouse is a creepy ghost story.
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Screech!: Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland by Charis Cotter
Have you read The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter.
Goodreads Synopsis:
A creepy, mysterious dollhouse takes center stage in this atmospheric middle-grade mystery for fans of Doll Bones and Small Spaces.
Alice’s world is falling apart. Her parents are getting a divorce, and they’ve cancelled their yearly cottage trip — the one thing that gets Alice through the school year. Instead, Alice and her mom are heading to some small town where Alice’s mom will be a live-in nurse to a rich elderly lady.
The house is huge, imposing and spooky, and everything inside is meticulously kept and perfect — not a fun place to spend the summer. Things start to get weird when Alice finds a dollhouse in the attic that’s an exact replica of the house she’s living in. Then she wakes up to find a girl asleep next to her in her bed — a girl who looks a lot like one of the dolls from the dollhouse . . .
When the dollhouse starts to change when Alice isn’t looking, she knows she has to solve the mystery. Who are the girls in the dollhouse? What happened to them? And what is their connection to the mean and mysterious woman who owns the house?
Title: The Secret Garden on 81st Street: A Modern Graphic Retelling of The Secret Garden Author: Ivy Noelle Weir, Amber Padilla (illustrator) Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel, Contemporary Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: October 19, 2021 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
The Secret Garden with a twist: in this follow-up to Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, this full-color graphic novel moves Mary Lennox to a New York City brownstone, where she and her very first group of friends restore an abandoned rooftop garden…and her uncle’s heart.
Mary Lennox is a loner living in Silicon Valley. With her parents always working, video game and tech become her main source of entertainment and “friends.” When her parents pass away in a tragic accident, she moves to New York City to live with her uncle who she barely knows, and to her surprise, keeps a gadget free home. Looking for comfort in this strange, new reality, Mary discovers an abandoned rooftop garden and an even bigger secret…her cousin who suffers from anxiety. With the help of her new friends, Colin and Dickon, Mary works to restore the garden to its former glory while also learning to grieve, build real friendships, and grow.
Review:
After her parents died suddenly in a car accident, Mary Lennox moved to New York to live at her uncle’s home. Her uncle has traveled constantly for work since his husband died, so Mary is left with his housekeeper and neighbour. While she’s exploring the house, Mary discovers a hidden garden that used to be tended to by her uncle’s husband. She also finds her uncle’s son, Colin, who is kept away in his room because he suffers from anxiety and panic disorder. Along with her other new friend Dickon, Mary helps rebuild the garden and learn how to grieve.
I haven’t read The Secret Garden since I was a kid, so I don’t remember the story very well. I’m sure a lot was changed in this adaptation to make it modern. Mary came from a high tech home in Silicon Valley, and she had to get used to life in New York. One thing I didn’t understand was why she didn’t start school right away since she moved there in the winter. Her uncle mentioned her starting school in the fall, and once Mary said something about online school, but it was strange that she would have been out of school for so long.
I appreciated the representation of anxiety and panic disorder in this book. Colin was kept away from the rest of the house because he was so anxious. The anxiety started after his father died. It was difficult for others to understand his feelings at first, because the doctors said there wasn’t anything physically wrong with him, though he felt pain in his chest when he experienced anxiety. Luckily, Mary figured out a way to help Colin manage his anxiety and live a fuller life.
The Secret Garden on 81st Street is a great, modern adaptation.
Thank you Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero, Bre Indigo (illustrations)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
About the author:
LIvy Noelle Weir is a writer of comics and prose. She is the co-creator of the Dwayne McDuffie Award-winning graphic novel Archival Quality (Oni Press), the upcoming The Secret Garden on 81st Street (Little, Brown for Young Readers), and her writing has appeared in anthologies such as Princeless: Girls Rock (Action Lab Entertainment) and Dead Beats (A Wave Blue World). She lives in the greater Boston area with her husband and their two tiny, weird dogs.
Title: Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons #3) Author: Sarah J. Maas Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Publisher: Random House Source: Purchased Format: Hardcover Release Date: August 7, 2018 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
When the Bat’s away, the Cat will play. It’s time to see how many lives this cat really has. . . .
Two years after escaping Gotham City’s slums, Selina Kyle returns as the mysterious and wealthy Holly Vanderhees. She quickly discovers that with Batman off on a vital mission, Batwing is left to hold back the tide of notorious criminals. Gotham City is ripe for the taking.
Meanwhile, Luke Fox wants to prove he has what it takes to help people in his role as Batwing. He targets a new thief on the prowl who seems cleverer than most. She has teamed up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and together they are wreaking havoc. This Catwoman may be Batwing’s undoing.
Review:
When Selina Kyle was growing up, she had the responsibility of taking care of her sister who has cystic fibrosis. She learned to fight, and made money by fighting for Carmine Falcone, until she was eventually caught and sent away to an assassin training facility. Now, two years later, Selina has returned to Gotham City as the wealthy Holly Vanderhees. She plans on stealing what she can from Gotham’s wealthiest residents. Batman just happens to be out of town, but he’s left his friend Batwing in charge. Luke Fox, aka Batwing, is Holly’s new neighbour and the son of one of the wealthiest families in Gotham. Batwing takes on the newest thief in Gotham, Catwoman, and tries to stop her before she destroys the town.
This is a great origin story for Catwoman. I haven’t read a Catwoman comic, so I was fairly new to the character. What sold me on the story is that she teams up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, my favourite comic character. Those two villains were Catwoman’s connection to the worst criminals in Gotham, which increased her threatening power.
This story had some serious moments. At the beginning, Selina was taking care of her sister alone as a teenager. Her sister was sick, and they couldn’t afford the extensive medical care she needed. They had an abusive mother who abandoned them and they didn’t know their fathers. This was, unfortunately, a realistic side of the story, but Selina eventually got her vengeance on that society.
Catwoman: Soulstealer is a great DC Comics story!
What to read next:
Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas, Louise Simonson, Samantha Dodge
Rebel Girls Champions: 25 Tales of Unstoppable Athletescelebrates the stories of 25 phenomenal women in sports all written in fairy tale form. It is part of the award-winning Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series.
This paperback collection showcases some of the most beloved stories from the first three volumes of the New York Times best-selling series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. It also features brand new tales of game-changing athletes and their drive, resilience, and sportsmanship. In Rebel Girls Champions, young readers can win the World Cup with Megan Rapinoe, flip and tumble with Simone Biles, and land breathtaking snowboard tricks with Chloe Kim.
Coming out directly after the Tokyo Olympics, Rebel Girls Champions will include the most thrilling anecdotes from the 2021 Games.
The exciting, easy-to-read text is paired with colorful full-page portraits created by female artists from all around the world
Review:
This book gives descriptions of 25 women who are accomplished athletes. These women have broken records and made changes in their sports.
The stories in this book were very current. Many of the athletes mentioned appeared in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Those games were referenced multiple times, including Hidilyn Diaz, a weightlifter from the Philippines who broke an Olympic record, and Simone Biles, an American gymnast who made the tough decision to take care of her mental and physical health and step back from the Olympics.
This is an inspiring children’s book!
Thank you Rebel Girls for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Rebel Girls Lead: 25 Tales of Powerful Women by Rebel Girls
Questions for Rebel Girls by Rebel Girls
Have you read Rebel Girls Champions? What did you think of it?
TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.
My pick this week is The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon.
Goodreads Synopsis:
The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.
It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.
The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
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