Book Review: The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was such a really cute book, and I really loved the mystery aspect of the book. I liked how Evan, Al, and Mortimer all had chapters talking about books, solving the mystery of the burned-down library, and how someone really wanted to see someone named Petunia. I also really liked how Evan's father explained how the fire started, and also how he was H.G. Higgins, and why he freaked out the moment he saw Evan's books he picked up from the little library.

I think my favorite part of the book was Mortiner's point of view. I've never seen a point of view from a cat, and I have to say, I really like that in a book. I liked that he became the guardian of the little library, and everyone called him every single name instead of the name he was named. When it came to fire, he got all the mice together and they told the story while he was meowing, and it got the adults in the book to act to build a new one.

The only character I kinda felt sad for was Al, who was actually alive and was taking care of both Mortimer and the ghosts. I thought she was a ghost as well, but it turns out she was still alive after Edward, Evan's dad, saved her from the library's fire. But I quite liked the description of the ghosts and how they left her while it turns out she was human this whole time. However, I did also find it cute that she had given the ghosts cheese and tea while they were living in the history house.

Back to the mystery aspect of it, I really enjoyed that. It was fun trying to solve a mystery through the lens of a fifth grader, who was writing everything down in his notebook and had his friend helping him through it all, including his dad at the end. I really liked that in this book and I want to read more books like this and trying to solve mysteries through a kid's lens-it was really fun and I liked how he and his friend tried to solve the mystery before and after they graduate.

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Book Review: Murder, She Wrote: Aloha Betrayed by Jessica Fletcher

Aloha Betrayed by Jessica Fletcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aloha Betrayed was a really good book. We follow Jessica Fletcher as she goes to Maui to teach a class with retired detective Mike Kane. She meets a botanist professor named Mala Kapule, and she invites Jessica to a luau, where Jessica overhears two men talking about something-maybe Mala? But then the next morning, Mala is found dead, and just like the show, that's how this book kicks off.

I liked how Jessica and Mike teamed up to find out who killed Mala, and I also liked the Hawaiian sayings at the beginning of the chapters as we go around the island to find out who killed Mala. It felt like an old-school episode of Murder, She Wrote, and I loved how both Jessica and Mike figured out who did it. I felt like I was there with them, trying to figure out who did it with them. The one thing that confused me while I was reading this book was the whole Bob and Elaine side story. Elaine kept saying 'Oh Bob' while Bob just says and does the most random thing ever, and then they move on as if this couple was working out their problems while on their trip to Maui.

Abbott and his wife kinda didn't make any sense until the end. I was shocked that it was Mrs. Luzon that killed Mala-I thought it was something totally different that killed her like Jessica thought-but thanks to a little boy who saw something and was kept quiet about it, that's when Jessica knew that something was off. When the boy, Kono, runs away from home, Jessica and the other townspeople try and find him, and the part I liked about this was the fact that Aunt Edie, Mala's Auntie, started to pray to Uli, and Jessica was confused at first about it, but when the boy was found, unharmed because of the cane stalk fires, all of us was relieved.

The ending with Professor Luzon and his wife shocked me the most, mostly because she snapped after all these years of getting mentally abused while Professor Luzon went after every pretty girl he saw. When she finally snapped, though, I felt like Professor Luzon deserved it. It was just odd and weird, and was very unexpected.

I would love to read more in the written books of Murder, She Wrote while watching the show at the same time, this one was a really good one.

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Book Review: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Death on the Nile was quite interesting. The first chapter when you open the book was broken up into many mini chapters and I got so confused as to why Agatha Christie chose to write the book like this. But then as I read on, from England to a hotel in Egypt to the Nile to the boat and as to why someone would shoot Linnet in the head like that, this book was a ride I was glad to be on, because I was trying to figure out who did kill Linnet Ridgeway. I thought it was her friend Jacqueline-I was spot on-but the whole twist as to why she was killed and why Jacqueline was stalking both Linnet and Simon. Was it because of jealousy? Was it all a plan to get all of Linnet's money so they could do whatever they wanted with it? Was Jacqueline that money-hungry as my mama would say, and wanted all of Linnet's money? Or was it revenge for stealing Simon away from her?

Simon's part of the whole thing confused me. I thought he was faithful to his wife, only to turn around and plan this whole thing, which doesn't make any sense at all. I thought he was happy with Linnet and was glad to marry her. But to surprise me and lie about it, all because of Jacqueline??? Sir. Really?? To me, Simon was one shady bitch throughout this book and I thought to keep an eye on him the whole entire time while I was trying to keep an eye on Jacqueline.

The whole scene in the drawing room, with Jacqueline making a huge fuss and acting weird--to the point that she wanted to shoot Simon to make him pay for leaving her....it didn't make sense. At all. It was one huge weird scene that just threw me off while trying to figure it all out. But then it broke off into some weird 'I saw her do this' and 'he did that' and it didn't make any sense at all. But for some reason....it compelled me though.

The ending was...not that satisfying. I didn't like how both Jacqueline and Simon just died like that, which was sad in my opinion. I thought, 'oh they'll get arrested and go to jail, good for us' but nope, didn't end that way. I'm sad about that part, though, because I felt like Linnet didn't get any justice for what happened to her after we find out it was both Simon and Jacqueline that killed her.

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Book Review: The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker

The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The King Slayer, once again, was another hit for me. It took me and Elizabeth to many places that I never thought it would take me. From finding out Blackwell was a wizard to him becoming king, to the battle that felt like it was a distraction to something else Blackwell was up to. I had to hold me breath a bit while I was reading this book, and once I was done, it was both refreshing and sad at the same time that the events that led up to the final battle made me happy that Blackwell was gone, but someone had to die in order to do it.

Now the romance in the book between her and John...to be honest, I really didn't care about it. All I cared about was Elizabeth's journey from being an ex-witch hunter to a woman who saved the world and also saved an exiled king. But I have to say, the relationship in the books was cute and adorable between the two, and I was kinda sad that they weren't going to get back together, but then they surprised me and they got back together, even though Elizabeth gave John her stigma when he died. And when King Malcolm came towards the camp, Elizabeth was triggered by memories of what he did to her (which was such an ooof), but I was glad to see that he, slowly but surely, helped out with the war and got hurt.

The thing that shocked me throughout this book was the fact that Caleb and some of the witch hunters who died were revenants, which was both terrible and completely messed up. They didn't even listen to Blackwell most of the time and looked like they were about to split from him. Once he died, I think that's what Caleb did, and it makes me wonder what happened to him once he left.

The ending was perfect. Even though I wished for a book three, I think ending it as a duology is perfect to me, and it makes me think that Virginia Boecker tied it up pretty nicely, leaving the reader with open-ended questions that would be answered in a novella or something. But I think this is the perfect ending for this series, and I hope she writes more books so I can read them all.

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Book Review: The Witch Hunter by Virgina Boecker

The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Once again, I've read a book that deals with a character's journey and not caring about the romance or the plot or the action. Reading Elizabeth Grey's journey, from being a witch hunter to being on ex-witch hunter on the run with her enemies, the witches, and warlocks that she would be hunting down and putting to jail...if she didn't find out that the person she thought wasn't a warlock, Blackwell, was actually a wizard and betrayed her by sentencing her to death and throwing her in jail.

She's rescued by an infamous wizard named Nicholas. At first, she couldn't trust him. But the more she's around his home and his people, even though she tries to hide what she really is, she decides to help him find the tablet that can save him and maybe the kingdom. But at the end, she faces her fear, falls in love with a healer named John, and also works with a revenant named Schyuler to find the tablet and destroy it. But what she didn't count on was Blackwell stabbing John and revealing that he was going to usurp the crown...like why, bro. But why???

I am excited to read the second book in the series, but this one was kinda fun, and I hope that the journey continues for Elizabeth, because I felt like there were questions that were left unanswered and I wanted this book to answer them. I did get worried about Elizabeth a tiny bit when she goes into dark places that scare her, but I liked how she overcomes them and makes sure that she finds a way out of these scary situations and comes up with ideas to stop them or get into more trouble with everyone. I cannot wait to jump into book two and see how this series end.

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Book Review: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my second Snow White retelling that I've read, and I have to say, I've really enjoyed it, I really liked the journey Lorelei goes through to get rid of the evil queen and also care about the people that are along with her for this journey. There was some romance in the book, but to be very honest, I didn't care about it. But there were dragons in this book, so that was the good thing about it.

Irina was honestly the best villain that I've ever read. I loved how you get to see her plot and try to get her away, and each time Lorelai stops her or foils her plans, she gets really upset and tries something else, in which Lorelai stops her, again and again. The things Irina does in the book are twisted and sick, but at the same time, it was cool. I also liked how she tried to use the love interest, Kol, to kill the princess, but even though it kinda works at the end and Lorelai kinda pulls a Gojo when he's killing her, I still loved how Irina tried to be one step in front of everyone and try to get her target. That is something in Villian that I really like.

Even though the dragons weren't in the books that much, I feel like they need a good little shout-out. I loved that there was a continent/Kingdom for the dragons, and I also loved how they could shift and use their magic to stop Irina and save their King. But I think what I really liked while I was reading this book was Kol's backstory and how he became King. I found that I liked that in a character and that I want to read more of them, possibly in the near future when it's written just like this.

I really enjoyed it, would read it again because it was that dang good of a Fairy Tale retelling.

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Book Review: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall by Carolyn Keene

The Ghost of Blackwood Hall by Carolyn Keene
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was really confusing to me. Because we were in New Orleans, then we were this place and that place, and this whole entire book was about a scam. A true blue, out-in-the-woods scam. With ghosts and people using a ranch as a way to get people to pay, this book was just...too confusing for me to put down. I thought it was going to be a great mystery, but I felt let down with all this jumping up and down Nancy and her friends do all the time and not even thinking about the consequences.

The only thing I liked about this book is the father-daughter relationship Nancy has with her daddy. Other than that...that's all I liked about it. The rest of the book felt like one huge rollercoaster without anyone stopping the ride until we're done with it. When I figured it all out, it was a letdown for me. I might give Nancy Drew another shot later on down the road, but until then, I think I'll leave this one alone until I feel ready to pick up another Nancy Drew book and see if I like it or not.

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Book Review: Jackaby by William Ritter

Jackaby by William Ritter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jackaby surprised me. I didn't think I would like a book about a detective who is Sherlock-coded (even though I hate that word throughout my body) solve a mystery in America-and yet I did. I couldn't stop reading it and seeing the world through Abigail Rook's eyes was quite fun. I did chuckle at the cheeky humor whenever Jackaby talked and how Abigail took in almost everything about the murder scene, which was written really well, and I also liked how the supernatural creatures were put into the story.

I was hoping for some Doctor Who vibes, which is what I was honestly looking for, but the only vibes I've gotten is the Sherlock Holmes vibes, and I'm just silently waiting for Moriarty to pop up and be the Napoleon of Crime in the city of New Fiddleham-which, I find, I really like. I was hoping to read about London, but I liked reading about a town in New England and a man and a girl run around town solving murders.

The supernatural creatures in this book were pretty fun to read about. I loved reading about the werewolf and the redcap-two very different creatures but the fight was actually pretty darn good. I wasn't even expecting the Commissioner to be the redcap, but after Abigail said that he had a metal leg, I believe it was, I couldn't stop thinking about the Commissioner and how he was trying to hide what he was.

The only reason why this is a four star and not a five is because of the Doctor Who vibes, but I think it went over my head when I was reading this book and just settled for the American Sherlock Holmes who can see supernatural characters and try to solve murders that only he can solve. And I think that's why I enjoyed the book. Yes, it was funny when Abigail threw books at the Commissioner, but at least it kinda stopped him.

I think one day I will pick the next book up and read it all, to see if it still has this momentum because I really enjoyed this book.

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Book Review: Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco

Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kerri Maniscalco has done it again. Magic, mystery, romance, Wrath not becoming the only Prince of Hell that was gonna be a Georgia Boy since he and Emilia are married now (*cries in Georgia Bulldog*) but it's okay! I truly enjoyed the way the book was written and I really loved Emilia's journey the most. I loved how she was a witch, then falling in love with Wrath and marrying him, finding out that her sister isn't dead, oh and that she's a goddess of fury and Nonna kept all of this from both her and her sister.

Books like this, for me, are very rare, but at the same time, I enjoy seeing characters I really like grow into the person they are now. The mystery was so intriguing to me that I wanted to know more. I had so many questions in my head, and Kerri and Emilia just took my head and just lead me to the answers while we figure out how Vittoria survived, how the ever-lasting fuckery does Domenico have magic, and also what happened to Greed's general.

All of my questions were answered, and I wasn't disappointed. The action was so good that I was cheering and gasping when things came to light.

Wrath became more and more like and loveable that I had sworn while reading the first two books that he will be mine, and that I could do whatever I wanted to him. But the third book made me really happy because he and Emilia finally got married and as they figure out what happened in the past and how to unlock the curse that was placed on the both of them, they were in sync all at once and I loved every bit it.

This might be one of my favorite series that I've ever read and I'm so glad that I read it.

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