Natasha

Another book with wasted potential. It was supposed to be magical and whimsical and romantic. But there was too much agenda, lecturing and finger wagging, and far too little whimsy. We know books are important (we are readers!), we know inclusion is important (we are readers!) we know that book banning is bad (say it with me - we are readers!). We do not need to be lectured on such things. Take us to the world of books and let us stay a while there - instead of dipping in and out. Argg - I'm in a reading slump.

I am bitterly disappointed! This premise had so much potential and I love a time travel story. There is so much more the author could have done with this concept, but in the end, the 1850 storyline lead to nothing.

The "romance" felt contrived and they had absolutely no chemistry. Insta love.

I was waiting for the fun time travel tropes to come into play - but nothing! She could have gone to another city instead of 150 years into the past and the story would have been exactly the same.

Mystery was pretty meh too.

Great mix of horror and fantasy, with a few surprising twists.

This was ok. It was a pretty standard historical fiction / romance and was 2.5 stars most of the way. The ending saved it, so I bumped it up to 3.

I needed a palate cleanser after a run of particular heavy reads. A story about running a magical inn seemed to fit the bill. I am surprised at how much I actually enjoyed this and how high stakes the story became.

This is a beautifully written epistolary novel that explores the exquisite joy and excruciating pain of family, love, work, friendship and grief. A heartbreaker and healer.

A novel about the beauty of a little life.

This is my favourite of the Wayward Children series so far. I feel like the book gave me fair value.