March 2025 – Jill's Book Blog

Review: The Ghosts of Apollo

Title: The Ghosts of Apollo
Author: John Madower
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 15, 2025
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

An edgy, modern spy thriller, The Ghosts of Apollo challenges our perception of the US space program, and our current world. Reluctant heroine Tess Shefford desperately struggles to protect a secret, hidden since NASA’s Apollo Program, as she races to solve an audacious modern crime. With her life in peril, how can she prevail with assassins on the loose, autonomous vehicles used as killing machines, data mining to expose deeply hidden secrets, and a system that does not trust her?

President Kennedy’s 1961 speech to Congress not only aimed to land a person on the moon and bring them back safely, it also set forth other objectives that we tend to forget.

This fast-paced novel follows the logical extension of the president’s speech and imagines where that might have led.

Review:

This story is about a device that communicates with a NASA satellite that was stolen by Russian spies. The main story was fascinating and exciting. There were a few times the story went off on tangents or told anecdotes from the past that didn’t really have anything to do with the main story. However I really enjoyed the twists and the way the story ended!

The Ghosts of Apollo is a great read!

Thank you The Wild Rose Press and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book as part of a paid campaign!

Have you read The Ghosts of Apollo? What did you think of it?

Review: How to Talk to Your Succulent

Title: How to Talk to Your Succulent
Author: Zoe Persico
Genre: Graphic Novel, Middle Grade
Publisher: Tundra Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: April 1, 2025
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

After the loss of her mother, Adara struggles to communicate with her family about her grief. When a sympathetic ear arises in an unlikely place, Adara can finally find her words — but can she find the time to listen? A stunning graphic novel for middle-grade readers about family, friendship and magic in unlikely places, for fans of The Witches of Brooklyn and Raina Telgemeier.

Eleven-year-old Adara and her dad are moving from California to the cold and flat lands of Michigan . . . and it sucks. After Mom’s recent passing, it seems way too soon. Talking to Dad has always been harder than with Mom, but now it’s like walking on eggshells. And why did Dad bring so many of Mom’s houseplants across the country? Her mother might have been called the Plant Whisperer back home, but Adara is beginning to wonder if there is something more to it. But when she meets a little succulent named Perle, she unlocks the same magical ability her mother talking to plants!

But taking care of Perle isn’t as easy as it seems — the environment isn’t suited for her, and Adara doesn’t know how to meet her needs. Kind of like the situation Adara herself is in. If only Perle could ask Adara for help . . . and Adara could ask her dad.

With a touch of magic, this debut middle-grade graphic novel explores loneliness, mental health and empathy, and shows how communication, openness and a willingness to listen can help young people — and older people — and plants! — navigate their mental well-being and heal from loss, individually and together.

Review:

This was an emotional story about healing through grief. The main character, Adara, had lost her mother but she gained her mother’s ability to speak to plants. Adara’s father was also grieving for his wife, but he often became angry for no reason. I liked the way the illustrations showed their emotions with vines growing around them to show their anger or sadness. This was a powerful way to show how emotions can physically affect you.

How to Talk to Your Succulent is a powerful middle grade graphic novel!

Thank you Tundra Books for providing a copy of this book!

Content warnings: death of parent, depression

Have you read How to Talk to Your Succulent? What did you think of it?

Review: Twas the Night Before Easter

Title: Twas the Night Before Easter
Author: Harry Caminelli, Dhamma Cakka
Genre: Children’s, Picture Book
Publisher: Taffy Tales
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: January 1, 2025
Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

It’s just a normal night for Easter Bunny . . . or is it? Oh no!! Easter is tomorrow, he suddenly realizes, and he forgot to hide the eggs for children all around the world, so . . . now it is a mad scramble to see if he can save the day and get the job done. Frantic and funny, Twas the Night Before Easter is the newest addition to Taffy Tales’ best-selling ‘Twas the Night Before series. About This Series: The Twas the Night Before series from Taffy Tales began with the classic best-seller The Night Before Christmas . . . and then it kind of spilled over into other seasonal titles, and even into some non-seasonal fun. From now on, every major holiday will be anticipated, celebrated and remembered with Taffy Tales’ Twas the Night Before titles. Taffy Tales creates best-selling children’s titles that will be cherished and remembered.

Review:

This is an adorable Easter picture book! In this story, it’s the night before Easter when the Easter Bunny realizes he’s forgotten Easter. He must rush around to get the Easter eggs painted and hidden for children to find on Easter morning. I love this adaptation of the Twas the Night Before Christmas poem. This story followed the same beats as that poem and had some funny twists along the way!

Twas the Night Before Easter is a beautiful Easter picture book!

Thank you Taffy Tales and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book as part of a paid campaign!

Have you read Twas the Night Before Easter? What did you think of it?

Review: The Third Element: The Missing Key to Activating the Law of Attraction

Title: The Third Element: The Missing Key to Activating the Law of Attraction
Author: Randy Lyman
Genre: Nonfiction, Self Help
Publisher: Self published
Source: iRead Book Tours
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 18, 2025
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

What if your emotions held the secret to unlocking the life you’ve always wanted?

In The Third Element, physicist, multi-millionaire entrepreneur, and emotional mastery expert Randy Lyman reveals how unprocessed emotions are the invisible barriers to success, fulfillment, and abundance. This transformative guide blends groundbreaking insights with actionable strategies to help you master your emotions, align your thoughts, and tap into your innate power.

Packed with wisdom and real-world application, this book is your key to creating a life of unlimited possibilities.

Review:

This book is about how to unlock the life you want. Randy teaches how to embrace your emotions and accept your past to move forward with your life. I liked that he mentioned the potential critiques people would have for each point he made. He acknowledged that people could push against these theories, but these are the things that worked for him.

The Third Element is an inspiring read!

Thank you iRead Book Tours for providing a copy of this book as part of a paid campaign!

Have you read The Third Element? What did you think of it?

Happy Pub Day – March 25

Happy Pub Day to these authors!

Summer in the City by Alex Aster

Morgana and Oz, Vol. 2 by Miyuli

The Deathly Grimm by Kathryn Purdie

Thank you HarperCollins, Wattpad Books, and Wednesday Books for providing copies of these books!

What books are you most excited for this week?

Review: The Mystery at Love’s Manor

Title: The Mystery at Love’s Manor
Author: D.W. Thompson
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Ebook
Release Date: December 4, 2024
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Emma Love never thought she’d return to her hometown after years away from her estranged family. But when her sister-in-law is kidnapped, Emma puts her life on hold to help an old flame, Deputy Sam Mattingley, solve the case and bring Gwen home. With a degree in Criminal Justice and part-time experience working at a detective agency, Emma’s skills are tested.
As the layers of secrecy are peeled back, Emma realizes the mystery shrouding Love’s Manor and her brother’s marriage is more intricate than anyone could have fathomed. Can she navigate the convoluted trail of clues and locate Gwen before it’s too late? And what of her long-suppressed feelings for Sam Mattingley…are they merely a product of nostalgia…or something more?

Review:

This story was a thrilling mystery, with lots of twists that kept me guessing. The characters were well developed, with enough backstory to understand their dynamics and relationships. I thought I had the story figured out, and I was close, but I was surprised at the reveal at the end. This was a great story!

Mystery at Love’s Manor is a mystery that will keep you guessing until the end!

Thank you The Wild Rose Press and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book as part of a paid campaign!

Content warnings: kidnapping, death, death of parents, drowning, car accident (off page), hospital scenes, adultery (off page)

Have you read The Mystery at Love’s Manor? What did you think of it?

Review: Orphan’s Quest (The Great Forget Fantasy Series #1)

Title: Orphan’s Quest (The Great Forget Fantasy Series #1)
Author: Terry Ironwood
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Independent
Source: Author
Format: Ebook
Release Date: June 13, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The weapons master once said, “Everything we want is on the other side of fear.”

The journey begins…

Long ago, a mysterious event ravaged Earth. Magic was born.

Millennia later, a baby with red eyes is abandoned at the gates of a small kingdom. The orphan, Chip, is condemned by a spiteful king to a life of servitude in the royal kitchens until he serendipitously finds himself before the powerful wizard Xander, who sees something special in the boy. From the rhythmic, sleepy life in the kingdom to seeking the fabled Pass of Death for his Manhood Quest, Chip’s story is brimming with arcane magic, gut-wrenching emotion, and lessons about the tenacious will of the human spirit.

Follow the orphan as he encounters an ancient evil and makes a stunning revelation…

Enter an addictively satisfying world of bravery, battle, friendship, and ferocity. Orphan’s Quest is an action-packed journey replete with hard-fought lessons of wisdom and impossible choices. This series delves into the illusion of self-imposed limits and entices us to break through our walls.

Join Chip as he grapples with friendship, love, hate and betrayal in an epic adventure inspired by the timeless, unparalleled works of the fantasy legends.

Review:

This book is a thrilling start to a fantasy series. It starts at the beginning of Chip’s life as an abandoned baby and ends in his adolescence, when he was embarking on an adventure. I felt completely immersed in this world. It had an interesting magic system, with the type of magic the wizard had being shown in their eye colour. This book is a short and exciting introduction to this series!

Orphan’s Quest is a great fantasy story!

Thank you Terry Ironwood and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book as part of a paid campaign!

Content warnings: parental abandonment, bullying, violence

Other books in the series:

Defender’s Hope (The Great Forget Fantasy Series #2)
A Dim World (The Great Forget Fantasy Series #3)
Guardian (The Great Forget Fantasy Series #4)
Wizard’s Guild (The Great Forget Fantasy Series #5)
Stone Kingdom (The Great Forget Fantasy Series #6)
Light Seeker (The Great Forget Fantasy Series #7)

Have you read Orphan’s Quest? What did you think of it?

Review: True Beauty, Vol. 1

Title: True Beauty, Vol.1
Author: Yaongyi
Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult, Romance
Publisher: Webtoon Unscrolled
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: November 8, 2022
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

After binge-watching beauty videos online, a shy, comic book fan masters the art of make-up, then sees her social standing skyrocket as she becomes her school’s prettiest pretty girl literally overnight. But will her elite status be short lived? How long can she keep her “real self” a secret? And what about that cute boy she likes? Could you imagine if he found out the truth?

Review:

In this book, a teenage girl transforms her looks and her life by wearing makeup. However, when she goes out without wearing makeup, no one recognizes her. It’s funny, but it’s true that some people can be unrecognizable without their regular makeup. Makeup can also transform the way you look and the way people treat you, but the only time that Jugyeong was her true self was when she wasn’t wearing makeup.

True Beauty, Vol. 1 is a great start to this graphic novel series!

Other books in the series:

True Beauty, Vol. 2
True Beauty, Vol. 3
True Beauty, Vol. 4
True Beauty, Vol. 5

Have you read True Beauty, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?

Review: The Elf Witch (Plot of the Six Saints #1)

Title: The Elf Witch (Plot of the Six Saints #1)
Author: Jacquelyn Gilmore
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Independent
Source: Bookinfluencers.com
Format: Paperback
Release Date: March 11, 2025
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

For fans of One Dark Window and From Blood and Ash comes a haunting, slow-burn fantasy romance about villains. It follows a formerly magicless elf as she suddenly comes into powers that her kingdom has never seen and the duplicitous prince she must bargain with to save them at whatever cost—even her soul.

After her grandmother’s execution, a formerly magicless elf is suddenly the most powerful witch in her village. Magic is disappearing, though, and Imani is thrust into the treacherous court of her kingdom, forced into trials against the most lethal witches in the world.

As she unravels the perilous plan her grandmother plotted before her death to save magic, Imani unwittingly dives deeper into a web of magical and political intrigue that puts her on a collision course with dangers beyond anything she imagined.

But Imani is harboring illicit knowledge of her own—a forbidden dark magic that’s getting more difficult to hide by the day. Now, she must decide whether to make herself a threat and an enemy to her country or risk becoming a pawn and the realm losing magic forever.

Stuck in this predicament, Imani sees only one path forward: a dangerous deal with the duplicitous prince—one she might be falling for.

Readers Beware: This book is for adult readers and contains mature and explicit content (see the author’s website for a complete list of trigger warnings). It’s a villain romance with morally black antihero characters that ends on a cliffhanger.

Review:

This fantasy was suspenseful and fast-paced. It was thrilling right from the start, with a mystery about Imani’s powers. She had to enter a competition that put her magic against other witches, while spinning a web in the royal politics. There were twists and betrayals at the end that left me wondering what will happen next!

The Elf Witch is a thrilling fantasy!

Thank you Bookinfluencers.com and Jacquelyn Gilmore for sending me copy of this book as part of a paid campaign!

Content warnings: violence, death of grandparent, death by burning, blood, sexual assault

Have you read The Elf Witch? What did you think of it?