Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:
I did 7 weekly blogging memes:
How was your week? What did you guys read?
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 Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer by Dean Jobb.
“When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals,” Sherlock Holmes observed during one of his most baffling investigations. “He has nerve and he has knowledge.”
In the span of fifteen years, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream poisoned at least ten people in the United States, Britain, and Canada, a death toll with almost no precedents. Structured around Cream’s London murder trial in 1892, when he was finally brought to justice, The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream exposes the blind trust given to medical practitioners, as well as the flawed detection methods, bungled investigations, corrupt officials, and stifling morality of Victorian society that allowed Cream to prey on vulnerable and desperate women, many of whom had turned to him for medical help.
Dean Jobb vividly re-creates this largely forgotten historical account against the backdrop of the birth of modern policing and newly adopted forensic methods, though most police departments still scoffed at using science to solve crimes. But then most police departments could hardly imagine that serial killers existed—the term was unknown at the time. As theChicago Tribune wrote then, Cream’s crimes marked the emergence of a new breed of killer, one who operated without motive or remorse, who “murdered simply for the sake of murder.”
What book are you in bed with today?
This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.
This week’s prompt is Characters I’d Go on Holiday With. Here’s my list:
(All book covers from Goodreads)
Did you make a Six for Sunday list?
Title: The Prince and the Troll (Faraway Collection)
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Short Story, Fantasy
Publisher: Amazon Publishing
Source: Purchased
Format: Ebook
Release Date: December 15, 2020
Rating: ★★
A charming everyman and a mysterious something-under-the-bridge cross paths in a short fairy tale by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and the Simon Snow series.
It’s fate when a man accidentally drops his phone off the bridge. It’s fortune when it’s retrieved by a friendly shape sloshing in the muck underneath. From that day forward, as they share a coffee every morning, an unlikely friendship blooms. Considering the reality for the man above, where life seems perfect, and that of the sharp-witted creature below, how forever after can a happy ending be?
A man dropped his phone off a bridge one day, and it was caught by a troll. The troll tosses it back to the man, and he decides to bring her coffee everyday to repay her for helping him. They bond over their shared Starbucks drinks while comparing notes on their separate lives spent above and beneath the bridge.
I read another book in the Faraway Collection and I loved it. Unfortunately I just didn’t understand this one. The writing was simple and not very descriptive. The things that were described in the most details were the Starbucks drinks, which I’m familiar with. When I think of fairytales, I think of the lush, magical worlds they’re set in, which this story was lacking.
I’m not sure what fairytale inspired this story. I had to do some research on what this story was actually about after reading it, because I just didn’t understand. Some theories say it’s about climate change, which I agree with because the prince and the troll talk about how the weather has affected their ways of life. I wish this message came across clearer in the story so that I wasn’t left wondering what happened.
Unfortunately, this short story wasn’t for me.
Have you read The Prince and the Troll? What did you think of it?
Title: Vengeful (Villains #2)
Author: V.E. Schwab
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Publisher: Tor
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: September 25, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★
The sequel to VICIOUS, V.E. Schwab’s first adult novel.
Sydney once had Serena—beloved sister, betrayed enemy, powerful ally. But now she is alone, except for her thrice-dead dog, Dol, and then there’s Victor, who thinks Sydney doesn’t know about his most recent act of vengeance.
Victor himself is under the radar these days—being buried and re-animated can strike concern even if one has superhuman powers. But despite his own worries, his anger remains. And Eli Ever still has yet to pay for the evil he has done.
After Sydney brought Victor Vale back to life, he has to live with some changes to his superpower, including frequent death. Meanwhile the ExtraOrdinary Observation and Neutralization is trying to hunt down all of the EOs, or people with superpowers, they can find. They have to resort to their prisoner and asset, the villainous Eli Ever to track the new EOs. There’s a new ExtraOrdinary in town, and she’s like nothing they’ve seen yet.
These ExtraOrdinaries had incredibly destructive powers. They get their powers from being revived after death, and their power relates to their final thoughts before dying. There were complications with mixing different powers, such as when Victor had side effects after being brought back to life with Sydney’s power. These were creative powers with surprising consequences.
This story is told through alternating timelines, all leading to one massive event. Each chapter jumps to a different time period, whether years, weeks, or days before the final event. I thought this format would be confusing, but it’s actually easy to follow with the rhythm of the plot.
Vengeful is an exciting sequel to Vicious!
Have you read Vengeful? What did you think of it?
Title: Cici’s Journal
Author: Joris Chamblain, Aurélie Neyret
Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel, Contemporary, Mystery
Publisher: First Second
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: July 20, 2021
Rating: ★★★
Cici dreams of being a novelist. Her favorite subject: people, especially adults. She’s been watching them and taking notes. Everybody has one special secret, Cici figures, and if you want to write about people, you need to understand what’s hiding inside them. But now she’s discovered something truly strange: an old man who disappears into the forest every Sunday with huge pots of paint in all sorts of colors. What is he up to? Why does he look so sad when he comes back?
In a graphic novel interwoven with journal notes, scrapbook pieces, and doodles, Cici assembles clues about the odd and wonderful people she’s uncovered, even as she struggles to understand the mundane: her family and friends.
Cici dreams of becoming a writer, so her author friend tells her to watch people and make up stories about them. Cici notices a man carrying paint cans into the woods every weekend, and she needs to find out what he’s doing. She follows him and eventually discovers a beautiful secret. In another mystery, Cici finds a library book card for a book that has been taken out by the same woman over and over again. Cici’s curiosity takes over again and she has to investigate why the woman keeps reading the same book.
Cici was quite a curious child. She often seemed nosy, when she would watch people and want to find out what they were doing. I didn’t really like this quality, but Cici ended up helping the people who she investigated, so it worked out in the end.
I liked that this story featured elderly characters. There aren’t a lot of older people in children’s books. Cici was able to help them relive their pasts and create some nice memories. Though Cici was nosy, she ended up helping people.
Cici’s Journal is a good middle grade graphic novel.
Thank you First Second for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Cici’s Journal? 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 I Speak Boy by Jessica Brody.
A phone-obsessed twelve-year-old girl, frustrated by the cryptic boys in her life, discovers a magic app that can read boys’ thoughts in this modern-day retelling of Emma by Jane Austen.
After a matchmaking attempt for her best friend, Harper, goes wrong, Emmy is fed up. Why are boys so hard to figure out? But then something amazing happens–she wakes up with a new app on her phone: iSpeak Boy! Suddenly Emmy has the information every girl wants to know–the super-secret knowledge of how boys think . . . and who they like!
Now Emmy is using her magical app to make matches left and right. But can she use it to help Harper, the only person who doesn’t seem to buy into Emmy’s gift? And when her secret gets out and the app ends up in the wrong hands, can Emmy figure out how to undo the damage she’s caused?
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Title: The Right Side of Reckless
Author: Whitney D. Grandison
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: July 13, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★
He’s never met a rule he didn’t break… She’s followed the rules her whole life… When they meet, one golden rule is established: stay away. Sparks fly in this edgy own voices novel, perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon, S. K. Ali, and Kristina Forest.
They were supposed to ignore each other and respect that fine line between them…
Guillermo Lozano is getting a fresh start. New town, new school, and no more reckless behavior. He’s done his time, and now he needs to right his wrongs. But when his work at the local community center throws him into the path of the one girl who is off-limits, friendship sparks…and maybe more.
Regan London needs a fresh perspective. The pressure to stay in her “perfect” relationship and be the good girl all the time has worn her down. But when the walls start to cave in and she finds unexpected understanding from the boy her parents warned about, she can’t ignore her feelings anymore.
The disapproval is instant. Being together might just get Guillermo sent away. But when it comes to the heart, sometimes you have to break the rules and be a little bit reckless…
Guillermo Lozano’s family moved to a new neighbourhood in Akron, Ohio so he could have a fresh start while on probation. He has to do community service at a local community centre, and he has to stay away from girls. Regan London works at the community centre with her mom, who is Guillermo’s probation officer. Regan is under a lot of pressure to be perfect, with her father insisting she become an accountant and have the perfect relationship with a football star. Regan is officially off limits to Guillermo, because he isn’t allowed to have a girlfriend, especially not the daughter of his probation officer. Regan soon discovers that her life isn’t heading in the direction that she wants to go, and Guillermo may be exactly what she needs to change it.
This was a fun forbidden romance story. There were a few reasons Guillermo and Regan were forbidden from seeing each other. The incident that got Guillermo in trouble involved a girl, so he was supposed to stay away from all girls. Regan’s family had plans for her future with her football star boyfriend, so they didn’t want her being with anyone else. Their races weren’t part of the reason they weren’t allowed to be together. Guillermo was Mexican and Regan was Black, but their different races weren’t an issue. This was a love story with diverse characters, but their diversity didn’t cause any conflict.
There was a lot of discussion about consent in this story. Regan’s boyfriend was pressuring her to do things she didn’t want to do. Right away I noticed that she didn’t feel comfortable with the way he treated her. Guillermo was much more respectful, though some people couldn’t see past his history to realize that he was a respectful young man. Though Guillermo was the one with the criminal record, he was more respectful than the boy who was considered a rising star.
The Right Side of Reckless is a great young adult romance!
Thank you Inkyard Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Whitney is dedicated to telling stories about teens of color and teens in difficult but relatable situations. Some of her works can be found on Wattpad, one of the largest online story sharing platforms, where she has acquired over 30,000 followers and an audience of over fifteen million dedicated readers. Outside of writing, she is a lover of Korean dramas, all things John Hughes, and horror films. Whitney currently lives in Akron, Ohio. She is the author of A Love Hate Thing and The Right Side of Reckless. Visit Whitney’s website http://www.whitneydgrandison.com and follow her on Twitter @whitney_dg and Instagram @wheadee.
Have you read The Right Side of Reckless? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.
The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland. The expected publication date is August 10, 2021.
The Hating Game meets I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter in this irresistible romance starring a Mexican American teen who discovers love and profound truths about the universe when she spends her summer on a road trip across the country.
When her twin sister reaches social media stardom, Moon Fuentez accepts her fate as the ugly, unwanted sister hidden in the background, destined to be nothing more than her sister’s camerawoman. But this summer, Moon also takes a job as the “merch girl” on a tour bus full of beautiful influencers and her fate begins to shift in the best way possible.
Most notable is her bunkmate and new nemesis, Santiago Phillips, who is grumpy, combative, and also the hottest guy Moon has ever seen.
Moon is certain she hates Santiago and that he hates her back. But as chance and destiny (and maybe, probably, close proximity) bring the two of them in each other’s perpetual paths, Moon starts to wonder if that’s really true. She even starts to question her destiny as the unnoticed, unloved wallflower she always thought she was.
Could this summer change Moon’s life as she knows it?
What books are you waiting on this week?
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 Book Titles That Are Questions. Here’s my list:
(All book covers from Goodreads)
What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?
Jill's Book Blog 