Book Review: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik ★★★★

September 30, 2019 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“Of course I was afraid. But I had learned to fear other things more: being despised, whittled down one small piece of myself at a time, smirked at and taken advantage of. I put my chin up and said, as cold as I could be in answer, “And what will you give me in return?”

Oh I lovedddd this one! It was brilliantly written, atmospheric, lush, dark, whimsical, and full of wonderful characters. It was not quite up there with Novik’s other book, Uprooted, which I adored, but it was very very good! Some spoilers below!

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Book Review: The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman ★★★

September 25, 2019October 14, 2019 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“Never turn yer back on the sea, and remember what’s hidden beneath her is always more deadly than what’s in plain sight.”

I read this book so fast! Honestly like in two days. And I am already getting into book three, so suffice it to say, I am flying through this series! Book two was really good. I liked it better than the first one and it felt like we were truly delving into the characters and the meat of the story for the first time. I’d give this one 3.5 stars.

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Book Review: The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman ★★★

September 19, 2019October 15, 2019 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“Her brother had not yet learned that, in the end, nothing ever stayed the same. Least of all people.”

I liked this one quite a bit! It did have a slower start; it wasn’t boring, but it did take its time to set up the story and establish the characters. It read pretty much like a classic YA Fantasy story, definitely good and I am looking forward to the next installment! It was a solid 3 stars for me, perfectly decent, but nothing spectacular.

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Used Bookstore Haul

September 18, 2019September 19, 2019 / crmullen / 2 Comments

SO excited for these new beauties!! My best friend was in town over the weekend, and our favorite thing to do together is get some delish lattes and hunt for treasures in the used bookstores around us. We could only make it to one store (my favorite called Mojo Books and Records!), but I found some great stuff! Only $15 for all of this, after using some of my store credit! They are really good here about giving you a fair price on books you bring in to trade, too.

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Book Review: Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James ★★★★

September 5, 2019September 6, 2019 / crmullen / Leave a comment

“We don’t own truth. Truth is truth and nothing you can do about it even if you hide it, or kill it, or even tell it. It was truth before you open your mouth and say, That there is a true thing.”

I am not one to usually give trigger warnings, because honestly I just forget to and generally mention it in my review anyway, but for this book:

Trigger warnings: LITERALLY ALL OF THEM. Yes, even that one. And that one! Oh you thought that would never be allowed in a book?? Well it’s in here!

Sooo I’m gonna be honest with you guys. I really liked this book. A lot! But, I would definitely hesitate before recommending it to anyone I know in real life 😅. It is SO DARK. I am having such a hard time rating it, too. The story and the writing and the characterization – all phenomenal. But some of the subject matter is wildly violent and disturbing…..Yeahhhh, I’m still gonna go 4.5 stars, I think. It was really good, okay! Don’t @ me!

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