Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow

Title: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

Author: Cory Doctorow

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2003

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 208

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Quarter of a Century

Where I Got It: Prospero’s in Kansas City, October 2021

Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World.

Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the care of a network of volunteer "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches.

Now, though, it seems the "ad hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself.

Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war: war for the soul of the Magic Kingdom, a war of ever-shifting reputations, technical wizardry, and entirely unpredictable outcomes.

Another absolute dud. This felt like Doctorow’s attempt to create a story a la Snowcrash, but it falls extremely flat. This future full of terrible fucking men is not a place that I’m interested in reading about. And yes, I understand that this is supposed to be future that we don’t want, but I still don’t want to read about it. Jules is a terrible narrator and main character. I couldn’t find reasons to root for him to feel anger at his “death.” Why do the female characters have to be wet blankets or villains? I think this book may just have turned me off to Doctorow’s writing.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Best Cowboy Christmas Ever by June Faver

Title: The Best Cowboy Christmas Ever (Garrett Family Saga #1)

Author: June Faver

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads; She Reads Romance - Cowboy Who Loves His Hat

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 4

When handsome town sheriff Derrick Shelton meets Angelique Guillory and her young daughter at the Garrett ranch, he is immediately drawn to the woman who seems to desperately need a true family Christmas. Determined to erase the shadows from her eyes, he decides to give her the best holiday she's ever had.

Angelique Guillory is a woman with a past, haunted by violence and searching for the family she never knew. When she and her little daughter find their way to the Garrett family and meet Derrick, she hopes to have finally found a safe haven.

But Angelique is still looking over her shoulder. Despite her doubts, with a little Christmas magic and the warmth of the Garretts, Angelique may find more love and acceptance than she ever thought possible.

Ooof! What casual misogyny hell is this? But before we get that, my first complaint is that this is apparently the first of a series but also this series is a continuation of a series already published. There is very odd references to the backstories of all the other couples in the story. Even if I had read the previous series, I still think that I would have been annoyed by the constant weird references. And then we get the super weird repetitious scenes of Alphonse back in New Orleans. Instead of increasing the suspense, I was just like “please come to Texas already and attempt to take Gabrielle.” Really the tension just didn’t increase, it pulled me out of the story every time it happened. And finally we get to the casual misogny. I enjoy strong male characters, but these took the “protector” identity to a new disturbing level. The worst part was one one of the wives wants to have a baby and the husband responds that as soon as she can quit her job, they can have a baby. Ugh. I just could not deal with any of it.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss #2)

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton 2014

Genre: YA Romance

Pages: 339

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - YA Romance; In Case You Missed It - 2014

Where I Got It: Library

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren't always forever. Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

And that was pretty much trash… I had mostly enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy even if they were young adult. I am a completionism and dove into this book hoping for some more yearning glances across a courtyard and sweet young love. Instead, we get a depiction of a pretty toxic relationship. All the things that the main characters think are sweet and amazing as in fact very toxic behaviors. The amount of mistrust and jealously all over these pages was immediately off-putting. Through in the absolutely refusal to see the world from anything beyond their own perspective, and I hated it. Added to all that, the sex scenes were super cringe and not just because it was two 18 year olds. They were just very badly described. That book was pretty much a waste of my time.

Anna and the French Kiss

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Next up on the TBR pile:

Book of Night by Holly Black

Title: Book of Night (Book of Night #1)

Author: Holly Black

Publisher: Tor Books 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 304

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Spooky Season

Where I Got It: Book of the Month May 2022

Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make.

She's spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie Hall.

Now, she’s trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but getting out isn’t easy. Bartending at a dive, she’s still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Not to mention that her sister Posey is desperate for magic, and that Charlie's shadowless, and possibly soulless, boyfriend has been hiding things from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends into a maelstrom of murder and lies.

Determined to survive, she’s up against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world—all trying to steal a secret that will give them vast and terrible power.

So very disappointed by this book. I was intrigued by the summary and interested in reading a dark magical story featuring a scrappy protagonist. What I got was a meandering, boring story featuring a highly unlikable main character. Charlie lies, cheats, and steals, even to and from those she loves to accomplish some very unspecified goals in life. I never found myself connecting to her. I also was very annoyed by those surrounding Charlie. Posey is terrible in her own way. And I hated that Vince keep everything important secret. I’m really sick of books where every character keeps very important information from the people who need it the most. All for a perceived gift for another character. Very annoying. As for the storyline itself, I was continuously annoyed by the interlude chapters about Charlie’s past. I really didn’t need all those long chapters detailing her past transgression. We get it. I would have cut most of those and focused more on the present.

Book of Night

#1 Book of Night
#2 Thief of Night

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Deading by Nicholas Belardes

Title: The Deading

Author: Nicholas Belardes

Publisher: Erewhon Books 2024

Genre: Horror

Pages: 304

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Where I Got It: Library

If you want to stay, you have to die.

In a small fishing town known for its aging birding community and the local oyster farm, a hidden evil emerges from the depths of the ocean. It begins with sea snails washing ashore, attacking whatever they cling to. This mysterious infection starts transforming the wildlife, the seascapes, and finally, the people.

Once infected, residents of Baywood start “deading”: collapsing and dying, only to rise again, changed in ways both fanatical and physical. As the government cuts the town off from the rest of the world, the uninfected, including the introverted bird-loving Blas and his jaded older brother Chango, realize their town could be ground zero for a fundamental shift in all living things.

Soon, disturbing beliefs and autocratic rituals emerge, overseen by the death-worshiping Risers. People must choose how to survive, how to find home, and whether or not to betray those closest to them. Stoked by paranoia and isolation, tensions escalate until Blas, Chango, and the survivors of Baywood must make their escape or become subsumed by this terrifying new normal.

Such a disappointing read! I was hoping for some great cli-fi horror involving snails and an otherworldly presence. I was hoping for something like Annihlation. Instead, this is a disjointed (not in a good way) mess of random characters and about fifty (it feels like) plots. We never really focus on any one thing. Instead, every chapter is jumping around characters, time, space, and plot lines. I grew very frustrated that we never knew who was speaking until almost halfway through each chapter. It wasn’t mysterious, it was just confusing. That choice made it very hard to connect to the story in any meaningful way. The horror involving the snails was interesting, but never fully explored. The story keeps turning to the deading and a semi religious cult that spring up. Pretty boring. And I really didn’t need almost a 100 pages of random birdwatching. Seriously, I started skimming those sections. Too detailed and very off-putting for the reader. This has not been a good week for my reading…

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

Title: The Idea of You

Author: Robinne Lee

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin 2017

Genre: Romance (not really)

Pages: 372

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

Where I Got It: Library

Solène Marchand, the thirty-nine-year-old owner of an art gallery in Los Angeles, is reluctant to take her daughter, Isabelle, to meet her favorite boy band. But since her divorce, she’s more eager than ever to be close to Isabelle. The last thing Solène expects is to make a connection with one of the members of the world-famous August Moon. But Hayes Campbell is clever, winning, confident, and posh, and the attraction is immediate. That he is all of twenty years old further complicates things.

What begins as a series of clandestine trysts quickly evolves into a passionate and genuine relationship. It is a journey that spans continents as Solène and Hayes navigate each other’s worlds: from stadium tours to international art fairs to secluded hideaways in Paris and Miami. For Solène, it is a reclaiming of self, as well as a rediscovery of happiness and love. When Solène and Hayes’ romance becomes a viral sensation, and both she and her daughter become the target of rabid fans and an insatiable media, Solène must face how her romantic life has impacted the lives of those she cares about most.

Labeled as romance. Let me tell you that this is not romance. There is no HEA here. There is not mutually respectful relationship between adults. There is a depiction of an extremely flawed woman in a “relationship” with a manipulative and controlling younger man. The age gap was not the problem for me. I don’t really care. I do care that these two characters were terrible. Everything started out fairly nice, but then we see how Solene is lying to and neglecting her daughter to go off and have sex filled weekends with her boybander. That was bad. Even worse was her interactions with his one bandmate. Creepy Creepy Creepy. Then we get to the second half of the book where we see these two characters become even more toxic. Hayes become an absolute nightmare. Solene should have jumped ship so fast, but no, the sex was too good. Honestly the sex scenes were terribly written; I got so confused about what exactly was happening half the time. This is a terrible book featuring terrible characters masquerading as a “romance.” Stay far away.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Beautiful Vengeance by Katee Robert

Title: Beautiful Vengeance (previously published as Forbidden Promises) (The O’Malleys #4)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Forever 2017

Genre: Romance

Pages: 320

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: None

Where I Got It: Library ebook

Spice Rating: 5

Some lines should never be crossed . . . not even for love.
Sloan O'Malley just left her entire world behind-her family, her wealth, and even her real name. For the first time in her life, she's free. She can live the "normal" life she's always wanted: A life without fear. But there's nothing safe about her intensely sexy next-door neighbor.
Jude MacNamara has no room for innocence in his life. Only revenge. Still, he's never been able to walk away from the forbidden, and Sloan--who is every inch of pure, mouthwatering temptation--has forbidden written all over her. Only after it's way too late does he discover the real danger: claiming Sloan as his puts a target on her back. To protect her, Jude is willing risk everything . . . and to hell with the consequences.

Ooof this one did not land for me at all. Right away, I was annoyed by how much of a doormat Sloan was. And she doesn’t really grow much at all throughout the book. Instead we see her stumble around until she falls into bed with Jude. There’s just not enough there to really connect to her as a character. Jude isn’t much better. He’s so drive by revenge that it becomes his entire personality. Not a fan. But my biggest complaint about this book is the accidental pregnancy storyline. I absolutely hate when a virgin has sex and immediately gets pregnant. No thank you! it’s just a tired trope and one that doesn’t allow for the growth of the romance and relationship that I actually want to see.

The O’Malleys

#1 The Marriage Contract / Dark Succession
#2 The Wedding Pact / Heated Rivals
#3 An Indencent Proposal / Twisted Secrets
#4 Forbidden Promises / Beautiful Vengeance
#5 Undercover Attraction / Lovely Corruption
#6 The Bastard’s Bargain / Ruthless Redemption

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Book of Scandal by Julia London

Title: The Book of Scandal

Author: Julia London

Publisher: Pocket Books 2008

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 360

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; She Reads Romance - Second Chance

Spice Rating: 4

Nathan Grey, the Earl of Lindsey, is infamously known as the Libertine of Lindsey for his scandalous ways with women. But when he hears gossip that his estranged wife, Evelyn, is about to be named in The Book of Scandal, he has no choice but to remove her from London to protect her and himself from charges of treason -- even if it calls for abduction! While Evelyn has no legal recourse against the man who broke her heart years ago but is still considered her lord and master, she is no longer the immature girl Nathan married. Her enforced homecoming quickly turns into a battle of wills that tears down her husband's defenses and lays bare the passion that still burns between them. Before it is too late, Nathan must confront powerful adversaries as he convinces Evelyn that she is not only his wife, but the one woman he will love for all time.

Another absolute dud of a book for me. This has been sitting on my Unread Shelf for a few years. I finally dive and absolutely hate it. This is a second chance romance that I could have gotten behind if not for how the infidelity was handled. Now cheating is one of my deal breakers. The setup of why it was introduced in this story I understood. It was the reconciliation that I hated. Evelyn thinks about maybe cheating with a man and spends the rest of the book begging and pleading Nathan for forgiveness. Nathan actually has sex with multiple women and absolutely nothing. It’s just swept under the rug because apparently not having an emotional connection with those women makes it okay and you know “men have needs.” Nope nope nope. I am very much out of this series. Removing the other two from my unread shelf. Done.

The Scandalous Series

#1 The Book of Scandal
#2 Highland Scandal
#3 A Courtesan’s Scandal

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Do-Over by TL Swan

Title: The Do-Over (Miles High Club #4)

Author: TL Swan

Publisher: Montlake 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 527

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

Spice Rating: 5

I’m wealthy, powerful, and able to get any woman I want.

So why do I feel so empty inside?

In search of a deeper me, I take a sabbatical from my privileged life. One year of backpacking around Europe: a new identity, no contacts, and no money. Not a bad plan, I think.

Until I get there.

A crowded hostel room, body odor, and beer bongs—there are no words for the fresh hell I’ve landed in.

But amid the chaos, I meet my new roommate, Hayden Whitmore. She sleeps in the bed opposite me, and I openly admit to staring at her more than I sleep. Beautiful, innocent, and smart. Not my usual type but perhaps the perfect woman.

There’s just one small problem with the divine Miss Hayden. She’s totally unaffected by my charm. Nothing is working, and now, I’ve been friend zoned.

What?

But the good thing about me is that I’m an incredible problem solver, and I’ve come up with a diabolical plan. I’m going to slide right in under her friend zone. Be the best damn friend she ever had, hold her hand, make her laugh, and spoon with her in bed.

But now there’s another problem.

Hayden is the one who is sliding under my skin, and maybe friendship isn’t enough.

Another complete dud for me. Overall, this series has not been my cup of tea. But after loving the second one, I thought that I would power through and complete the series. I am a completionism after all. Now I’m regretting that I did. This is just some jealous alpha bullshit masquerading as romance. Christopher is not a good person. He lies, obscures, demands, and stalks Hayden throughout this book. The “advice” that his brothers give him borders on assault. I don’t always have to love the characters in a romance novel, but I do have to connect with them on some level. Christopher just repulsed me. Hayden should have just booted him off the plane. I am seriously so mad at this book in its portrayal of women. We’re supposed to fall in love with Christopher while he constantly refers to women has “hobags” and demeans them at every turn. Also, his repeated exclamations of “needing sex” just turned me all the way off. At every turn, Christopher acted like a little child who didn’t his his way. No thank you!

Miles High Club

#1 The Stopover
#2 The Takeover
#3 The Casanova
#4 The Do-Over
#5 Miles Ever After

Next up on the TBR pile:

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

Title: Annie Bot

Author: Sierra Greer

Publisher: Mariner Books 2024

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 231

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love; 52 Book Club - Plot similar to another book

Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the pert outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. True, she’s not the greatest at keeping Doug’s place spotless, but she’s trying to please him. She’s trying hard.

She’s learning, too.

Doug says he loves that Annie’s AI makes her seem more like a real woman, so Annie explores human traits such as curiosity, secrecy, and longing. But becoming more human also means becoming less perfect, and as Annie’s relationship with Doug grows more intricate and difficult, she starts to wonder: Does Doug really desire what he says he wants? And in such an impossible paradox, what does Annie owe herself?

CW: Sexual assault

My Nerdy Bookish Friends pick for the month and I am thoroughly disappointed. This slim book attempts to take on the question, are sentient robots human? But it fails to actually examine the question too deeply. Annie was a difficult character to root for, but I really wanted to. I wanted to see a story more like Bicentennial Man or AI or even Alex + Ada. I wanted to get in any of the threads in this book, from Doug’s responsibilities to Irving’s job. But we stay in a very slim space and just constantly repeat how much Annie tries to please Doug. I usually don’t get too upset over trigger warnings and such, but this book has so many sexual assault scenes that I couldn’t really enjoy it. I’m going to miss the book discussion due to travel, but that’s okay. I don’t really want to pick apart why I dislike this book. Overall, I felt very icky reading Annie’s story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Poison by Sarah Pinborough

Title: Poison (Tales from the Kingdom #1)

Author: Sarah Pinborough

Publisher: Titan Books 2013

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 181

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fairy Tale - Snow White; Library Love

Meet handsome prince, the jealous queen, and the beautiful girl as you’ve never seen them before . . . Sarah Pinborough’s charming, provocative, and adult spin on Snow White will captivate fans of the classic fairy tale all over again.

Poison is the first of Sarah Pinborough’s three sexy, contemporary retellings of classic fairy tales featuring the heroes and villains we all love.

Such a disappointment! I love a good fairy tale retelling and this was not it. The book tries to make a more risqué Snow White story, but ends up getting confused about what it wants to be. At times, we get a very immature story of a young girl (who’s incredibly annoying I might add). At other times, we get a story of a misunderstood woman rebelling against the bounds of society. And at other times, we get a spicy romance. None of it quite works together for a cohesive narrator. I have incredibly disappointed and left with so many questions. Given my feelings with this volume, I will not be attempting to get those answers in the rest of the series.

Tales from the Kingdom

#1 Poison
#2 Charm
#3 Beauty

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Casanova by TL Swan

Title: The Casanova (Miles High Club #3)

Author: TL Swan

Publisher: Montlake 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 500

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - A Smelly Book; Library Love

Spice Rating: 5

My favorite hobby is infuriating Elliot Miles. Just the sight of my boss’s handsome face triggers my sarcasm. God knows how he earns his Casanova reputation—if a million women want him with his personality, what the heck am I doing wrong?

Disgusted with my love life, I join a dating app under a fake name. I start chatting to a man named Edgar. He’s not my type and lives on the other side of the world, but we hit off a friendship, laugh and confide in each other.

But lately things are getting weird at work. Elliot’s being…attentive. His eyes linger a little longer than they should, and there’s a heat behind them that I haven’t felt before. And then, in the shock of all shocks, he tells me that my vulnerability is appealing. But when was I vulnerable?

Ugh! This book was so incredibly frustrating! I absolutely detested Elliot throughout most of this book. He runs so hot and cold every chapter and I just couldn’t root for him at all. The way he treated Kathryn made me ragey. The way that Kathryn could call out his bad behavior and then sweep it under the rug really made me mad. I really dislike agro heroes and miscommunication. I barely got through this book and definitely did not like it. I could never fall for someone like Elliot. Unfortunately he never redeemed himself and I never really enjoyed this book. I will probably finish off this series, but did not enjoy this one.

Miles High Club

#1 The Stopover
#2 The Takeover
#3 The Casanova
#4 The Do-Over
#5 Miles Ever After

Next up on the TBR pile:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)

Author: Laini Taylor

Publisher: Little, Brown Books 2011

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 418

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Everyone But Me; Library Love

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Oof that was not a book for me. I was expecting a great fantasy adventure story with world building and great characters. To be fair, the story started out great. I loved the setting in Prague. We get some great atmosphere throughout the first section of the book. I loved following Karou around on her errands and dealing with her everyday life. I was very intrigued by the mystery of Karous’ family and what was through the other door. I wanted to explore the mystery of the conflict between the angels and the others. But the book took a turn about 50% of the way through and become a whiny young adult romance. From there, every chapter was a bunch of angsty romance. When the big twist was revealed (seriously who didn’t see that coming?), I completely threw the book down. I will not be continuing with this story at all.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

#1 Daughter of Smoke and Bone
#1.5 Night of Cake and Puppets
#2 Days of Blood and Starlight
#3 Dreams of Gods and Monsters

Next up on the TBR pile:

Reckless by Anne Stuart

Title: Reckless (House of Rohan #2)

Author: Anne Stuart

Publisher: MIRA 2010

Genre: Romance

Pages: 408

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; She Reads Romance - Historical Romance

Spice Rating: 5

Charlotte Spenser, straight-laced spinster with a search for knowledge, thinks observing an orgy from a safe distance is an excellent idea.

Adrian Rohan, black sheep of an already infamous family, has always encouraged female education, and he’s more than happy to give her hands-on experience.

They’re so mismatched it’s a wonder they don’t explode. He’s everything bad, and she can’t resist him.

What could possibly go wrong?

Wow… I am definitely done with this series. I had my hesitations about the first book. And this volume absolutely confirmed all my hesitations and really soured me on this author. The main storyline features a terrible pairing of people. Charlotte is a naive spinster. Adrian is just a complete asshole. I could not even find one shred of attraction to him. Their entire relationship was extremely dysfunctional. I just wanted both of these characters to run away from each other and never get together again. Blergh. I just cannot with this series at all. On a brighter note, I just removed two books from my Unread Shelf.

House of Rohan

#1 Ruthless
#2 Reckless
#3 Breathless
#4 Shameless
#5 Heartless

Next up on the TBR pile:

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Title: Crimson Bound

Author: Rosamund Hodge

Publisher: Balzer + Bray 2015

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 441

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fairy Tales; In Case You Missed It - 2015

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless—straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in a vain effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her hunt for the legendary sword that might save their world. Together, they navigate the opulent world of the courtly elite, where beauty and power reign and no one can be trusted. And as the two become unexpected allies, they discover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic . . . and a love that may be their undoing. Within a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Oof this one really did not work for me at all. I picked it up as a Red Riding Hood retelling and was hoping for a good fantasy novel. The world building was interesting if confusing. At times I got very into the weeds trying to figure out if the references were straight out of French lore or if the author made it up. Parts of the story got really convoluted. But my biggest complaint are directly about the romance. Why do we have to have another silly love triangle? I really dislike the female protagonist following her destiny only to find two men standing in her way. The biggest issue was that Armand was a complete nothing burger of a character. I could not imagine why Rachelle would ever fall for him. Really the same goes for Erec. This book may have been saved if the stupid love triangle was dropped.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Title: Beautyland

Author: Marie-Helene Bertino

Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 2024

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Pages: 336

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different: She possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of Earthlings.

For years, as she moves through the world and makes a life for herself among humans, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and surprising joys of their existence. Then, at a precarious moment, a beloved friend urges Adina to share her messages with the world. Is there a chance she is not alone?

Such a bait and switch book! I was very intrigued by the science fiction aspect in the summary. I wanted to read an interesting story about an alien being who “lives” as a human and attempts to teach the other aliens about us. I was hoping for The Mountain in the Sea vibes with discussions about humanity and nature of life. Instead we get a very standard coming of age story. Even worse, we are meant to think that Adina is an alien when she’s heavily coded at autistic. Portraying an autistic person as an alien really left an icky taste in my mouth. Beyond that, the story just goes nowhere. I was at times enraged but mostly bored.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Title: A Holly Jolly Ever After (Christmas Notch #2)

Author: Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Publisher: Avon 2023

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 432

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Pregnancy

Spice Rating: 5

Kallum Liebermanis the funny one™. As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He’s living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends’ weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he’s ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel.

Winnie Baker did everything right. She married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. Hell, she even waited until marriage to have sex. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself—and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie?

With decade old Hollywood history between them, Winnie and Kallum are both feeling hesitant about their new situation as costars…especially Winnie who can’t seem to fake on screen pleasure she’s never experienced in real life. She’s willing to do the pleasure research—for science and artistic authenticity, of course. And there’s no better research partner than her bridesmaid sex tape hall of fame costar, Kallum. But suddenly, Kallum’s teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface and Winnie might be catching feelings herself.

They say opposites attract, but is this holly jolly ever after really ready for its close-up?

Spoilers Below!

Oh this was such a disappointment… After the first book in the series, I was very exacted to read the next book featuring Kallum. And the first half of the book was great. I fell for Winnie and Kallum. I really enjoyed the discussion about purity culture and the after-effects of bad relationships and marriages. I was excited to see Winnie making strides in her own sexual growth and independence. I loved seeing the two main characters begin to open up to each others and their friends and families. It was delightful. And then we get tot he second half of the book and absolutely everything gets destroyed. Instead of continuing Winnie’s journey of growth, she becomes pregnant and everything goes off the rails. She tells everyone but Kallum. She doesn’t communicate or handle anything well. But my biggest complaint is that instead of continuing the journey, Winnie immediately becomes pregnant. In many ways, purity culture warns that having sex leads to degradation and immediate pregnancy. In this case, at least the second part becomes true. And it annoys me so much! This is not a good message.

Christmas Notch

#1 A Merry Little Meet Cute
#1.5 Snow Place Like LA
#2 A Holly Jolly Ever After

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

Title: The Fortune Hunter

Author: Daisy Goodwin

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2013

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 473

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; In Case You Missed It - 2013

Empress Elizabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, is the Princess Diana of nineteenth-century Europe. Famously beautiful, as captured in a portrait with diamond stars in her hair, she is unfulfilled in her marriage to the older Emperor Franz Joseph. Sisi has spent years evading the stifling formality of royal life on her private train or yacht or, whenever she can, on the back of a horse.

Captain Bay Middleton is dashing, young, and the finest horseman in England. He is also impoverished, with no hope of buying the horse needed to win the Grand National—until he meets Charlotte Baird. A clever, plainspoken heiress whose money gives her a choice among suitors, Charlotte falls in love with Bay, the first man to really notice her, for his vulnerability as well as his glamour. When Sisi joins the legendary hunt organized by Earl Spencer in England, Bay is asked to guide her on the treacherous course. Their shared passion for riding leads to an infatuation that jeopardizes the growing bond between Bay and Charlotte, and threatens all of their futures.

Another absolutely disappointing book! I was hoping that we would get a glittering portrayal of the Empress of Austria complete with expansive descriptions of time and place. I wanted a more glamorous version of Downtown Abbey. Instead, we focus more on Charlotte and Bay than Sisi and plod through their ridiculous “relationship.” I was thoroughly disgusted with Bay’s treatment of both Charlotte and Sisi and could not imagine what either woman saw in him. He’s nothing special at all. He spends all his lamenting his station in life and expressing love for his horse. Why would an heiress and the Empress of Austria covet a man like that? And there’s the fact that we get little to no information about Sisi throughout the book. She has a tiny waist, likes to hunt, and has ridiculously long hair. None of those things are personality traits and definitely none of those things make her an interesting figure. I really should have just off loaded this book, but you never know until to read it. At least it’s off my shelves.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca

Title: Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City's Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation

Author: Brad Ricca

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2017

Genre: Nonfiction - True Crime

Pages: 448

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader; Library Love

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes tells the true story of Mrs. Grace Humiston, the detective and lawyer who turned her back on New York society life to become one of the nation's greatest crime fighters during an era when women weren't even allowed to vote. After graduating from N.Y.U. law school, Grace opened a legal clinic in the city for low-income immigrant clients, and quickly established a reputation as a fierce, but fair lawyer who was always on the side of the disenfranchised.

Grace's motto "Justice for those of limited means" led her to strange cases all over the city, and eventually the world. From defending an innocent giant on death row to investigating an island in Arkansas with a terrible secret about slavery; from the warring halls of Congress to a crumbling medieval tower in Italy, Grace solved crimes in-between shopping at Bergdorf Goodman and being marked for death by the sinister Black Hand. She defended women clients who had killed their attackers and fought the framing of a Baltimore black man at the mercy of a corrupt police department. Known for dressing only in black, Grace was appointed the first woman U.S. district attorney in history. And when a pretty 18-year-old girl named Ruth Cruger went missing on Valentine's Day in New York, Grace took the case after the police gave up. Grace and her partner, the hard-boiled Hungarian detective Julius J. Kron, navigated a dangerous mystery of secret boyfriends, two-faced cops, underground tunnels, rumors of white slavery, and a mysterious pale man -- in a desperate race against time to save Ruth. When she solved the crime, she was made the first female consulting detective to the NYPD.

But despite her many successes in social and criminal justice, Grace began to see chilling connections in the cases she had solved, leading to a final showdown with her most fearsome adversary of all and one of the most powerful men of the twentieth century.

This is the first-ever literary biography of the singular woman the press nicknamed after fiction's greatest detective. In the narrative tradition of In Cold Blood and The Devil in the White City, her poignant story unmasks unmistakable connections between missing girls, the role of the media, and the real truth of crime stories. The great mystery of Mrs. Sherlock Holmes -- and its haunting twist ending -- is how one woman dedicated to finding the missing herself become so lost to history?

This was one giant dud of a book! I was hoping for an examination of how one of the first women detectives in the United States proved her qualifications and solved crimes. Instead, I got a jumble of book more intent on telling all the tiny irrelevant details of one particular case while alluding to others but not exploring them. We get a ton of inside information about the thoughts and feelings of a variety of people related to the missing woman’s case, but nothing from Grace. We meander around the case while dropping weird hints and observations. But we don’t really get to the point. We don’t get to place Grace in the time and geographic location. This is certainly no Erik Larson style book that connects the dots so that the audience can understanding why the story is truly groundbreaking. I wonder if this was an article and the author was pressured into padding it out to a full length book? That might explain the complete necessary information and side tangents that take up a majority of the pages.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters

Title: Underground Airlines

Author: Ben H. Winters

Publisher: Mulholland Books 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 336

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; 52 Book Club

A young black man calling himself Victor has struck a bargain with federal law enforcement, working as a bounty hunter for the US Marshall Service in exchange for his freedom. He's got plenty of work. In this version of America, slavery continues in four states called "the Hard Four." On the trail of a runaway known as Jackdaw, Victor arrives in Indianapolis knowing that something isn't right -- with the case file, with his work, and with the country itself.

As he works to infiltrate the local cell of a abolitionist movement called the Underground Airlines, tracking Jackdaw through the back rooms of churches, empty parking garages, hotels, and medical offices, Victor believes he's hot on the trail. But his strange, increasingly uncanny pursuit is complicated by a boss who won't reveal the extraordinary stakes of Jackdaw's case, as well as by a heartbreaking young woman and her child -- who may be Victor's salvation.

Victor believes himself to be a good man doing bad work, unwilling to give up the freedom he has worked so hard to earn. But in pursuing Jackdaw, Victor discovers secrets at the core of the country's arrangement with the Hard Four, secrets the government will preserve at any cost.

I was intrigued by this alternative history, but ended up really disappointed in the execution. The main issue is that I am uncertain as to the point of this book. Are we supposed to understand that everyone is terrible? Are we supposed to root for any of the characters? Because I truly don’t. It’s a cluster of unlikeable characters, confusing sequences, and an unsatisfying ending. As an extra note, the narration alternates between straight forward descriptions to a strange bit of stream of consciousness. I did not enjoy the book.

Next up on the TBR pile: