Cassandra

I guess I thought this was a historical fiction book rather than a romance because it just felt so hollow. The banter between Paloma and Mick was annoying, their relationship was rushed and everything was predictable so there was no tension. I wish Della Lee's story would have been the primary story rather than adding in Paloma and Mick's POVs. The writing was also very “telling rather than showing”. The setting was kind of interesting and it wasn't terrible. I think it'd be a nice shakeup for someone who reads a lot of contemporary romance.

Loved this book. It set out to tackle a lot - death, ghosts, history, George Floyd, the pandemic- and solidly delivers.

An absolutely terrifying, dark, well-written horror/thriller.

This book was dark. DARK. If you're into psychological horror books, Sundial is a good, disturbing choice. The characters are deep, dark, and twisted in their own ways. There's so much that happens in this book that it's impossible to talk about it without spoiling it or sounding creepy as heck. I'm glad I didn't read too many reviews before starting this one, because I wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. This was a good step (way) outside of my comfort zone.

I'm still not completely sure how I feel about this book. This story was so unique and I didn’t love it at first but once it picked up, I couldn’t put it down. I loved the back and forth of the story. The book was the perfect length and perfectly paced.

My only complaint is that Lyla and her husband, Graham were so unlikable. Like almost too unlikeable. Lyla was so boring and awful, Grant is an absurd jerk. I don't really get why they're together other than money? For being so rich, they're lives seem incredibly dull. Nevertheless, their awfulness makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens to them.

Would recommend if you want a quick, unique thriller.

I liked how this book touched on so many different topics - racism, classism, climate change, consumption and politics. Unfortunately, I feel like the scope was too big and it caused the story to suffer. The story meanders, the characters are unlikeable and over-the-top and the commentary is pretty on the nose. Nothing new is really said, but the book reads like a movie, which was nice for the summer.

This was a beautiful fairy tale full of Russian lore and I know that I didn't give it enough attention to fully appreciate it. There were a lot of characters, story lines to follow and terms that I got lost pretty early on. The book was so immersive that I can see myself giving the series another try in the future.

I have mixed feelings about Darling Girls. I liked the mystery and suspense of the book. I especially loved the short chapters - they helped move the story along and also made the hard chapters *a little* easier to swallow. I had trouble connecting and feeling much of anything for any of the characters beyond Alicia. The writing also felt uneasy with certain chapters being a lot cheesier than others (a confession and a some of the relationships come to mind). Overall, it was an okay read.

It was a lot of fun diving into the horse girl world! I still can't wrap my head around how unbelievably expensive the sport(?) is and the idea that some people participate in it solely because of the prestige. Overall this book was a page turner with interesting perspectives. I think that the different dynamics were presented thoughtfully. We see relationships between mother and daughter, sister and sister and different mothers living very different lives. That said, I don't think there was one loveable character in this story but that's okay. I loved the short chapters and different POVs but the ending wasn't my favorite. Overall, I loved getting sucked into this world.

Being from North Carolina and growing up hearing about The Lost Colony, I was intrigued by the premise of this book. Unfortunately it wasn't what I thought it would be. I was expecting a dual timeline and mystery with Eleanor Dare as a main character. While it does flip to Eleanor's perspective, the stayed in the present more often than not and mainly focused on the mother and daughter's relationship. I can tell story will feature a lot of beautiful character growth as the relationship between the mother and daughter grows, but its not for me at this time.