April Book Reviews

April Book Reviews

Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities, and the Pleasures of Solitude by Stephanie Rosenbloom 4/5 Stars
I really liked this book and the exploration of solo traveling, or alone time, was interesting to me. I value alone time a considerable amount and have always wanted to travel to a familiar place by myself (mostly, Paris). Stephanie’s exploration of her own travels as well as the studies, quotes, and other accounts of solo travels presented came together beautifully here. There were sights mentioned in all parts of the book that I noted for future travel. I also found the information at the end of the book extremely helpful for all kinds of travel. I have two complaints: One, I listened to the audiobook (read by the author) and many of the French pronunciations were painful to hear. I feel there could have been better guidance for whoever directed or produced the audiobook. And two, of course the big draw to the book for me was Paris, but the part about Paris took up the first half of the book and I would have loved to see a little more detail about Istanbul and Florence (I’m sure others would like more about NYC, it’s just my least favorite big city), like there is for Paris. Overall though, a great book for any who love travel or Paris, Istanbul, Florence, or New York City.

The Great Witch of Brittany by Louisa Morgan 3/5 Stars
After reading and enjoying A Secret History of Witches, I was excited to get an advanced copy of this book for more background on the Orchière clan. I did like Ursule’s family story and the atmosphere created around the time period, but my reservation about this book is that it’s a pretty bummer of a read. A lot of bad things happen and Ursule has a hard and demanding life. Nothing comes easy and we are there with her for each twist and turn. It took me about 40% into the book to get hooked and I did eventually get to the point where I went out of my way to find time to read it. If you like the previous books and don’t mind that it’s not an upbeat story I’d say give it a try.
I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys #1) by Seanan McGuire 3/5 Stars
I put off reading this book for almost three years because it seemed too heavy on science for me. I’m have more of an arts/English background and the description and into to the book just put me off for some reason. I finally started the audiobook and ended up liking it. I do feel that it is very math-heavy, and while one twin is supposed to be math and the other words, I don’t feel that an equal amount of nerdiness was put on the word side. Since I never took any math past Algebra 1, and that was almost 20 years ago, all mention of math in this book was completely over my head and basically read like fantasy. I thought the way the book was written, the dynamic and relationship between Roger and Dodger, and the intricacies of the organization that created them were all really interesting and kept me interested throughout the book.

Crowbones by Anne Bishop 3/5 Stars
I love the world of the Others (this is the 8th in the series) but I don’t like Vicki, the main character in this book. She seems pretty dumb and has a lot of issues from past trauma that seem to make her act like a child. I didn’t find the story line as exciting as other books either. Perhaps this series has just run its course?

Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin 4/5 Stars
Eternal Sunshine is one of my all-time favorite movies so when I read the synopsis of this book I knew I had to read it. Overall, I really liked it. It’s an interesting and, to me, seemingly realistic way this would unfold if it were to really happen. Corruption, behind-the-scenes deals, secrets from a lot of people, and many left confused and hurt. The layout of the book made the characters a little confusing for me at first which took me out of the story. I liked that we had perspectives from every type of person this procedure has an effect on, even from an employee. Overall, I enjoyed this book both for being like Eternal Sunshine and a small breath of fresh air in books that are coming out.
I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.