Tag: Book Review

Four Found Dead by Natalie D. Richards

Published on by Charli

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This book may contain material that is disturbing to some readers. Please Google for a full list of trigger warnings. Thank you!
Four Found Dead by Natalie D. RichardsFour Found Dead by Natalie D. Richards
Published by Sourcebooks on 01/10/2025
Genres: Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure / General, Juvenile Fiction / General, Young Adult Fiction / Horror, Young Adult Fiction / Mysteries & Detective Stories, Young Adult Fiction / Thrillers & Suspense / General
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley

A terrifying thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Five Total Strangers and Seven Dirty Secrets!

The last show has ended, but the nightmare is just beginning.

Tonight, Riverview Theaters is closing forever, the last remaining business in a defunct shopping mall. The moviegoers have left, and Jo and her six coworkers have the final shift, a shift that quickly takes a dark turn.

First a stranger arrives with a chilling accusation. Then the power goes out and their manager disappears, along with the keys to the lobby doors and the theater safe, where the crew's phones are locked each shift. The crew's tension turns to terror when Jo discovers the dead body of one of her co-workers.

Now their only chance to escape the murderer in their midst is through the dark, shuttered mall. With its boarded-up exits and disabled fire alarms, the complex is filled with hiding places for both pursuer and pursued. In order to survive this night, Jo and her friends must trust one another, navigate the sprawling ruins of the mall, and outwit a killer before he kills them all.

Four Found Dead was one of those books that took me a while to read – mostly because it was a case of “right book, wrong time”. I tried several times to read this book and just couldn’t stay interested. Last night, I decided I’d give it one more try before giving up[mfn]The book was released almost 2 years ago now…[/mfn] and I’m glad I did. I started it at 10PM and finished at 3:45AM the next morning.

Once I was able to properly get into the book[mfn]Trust me, it was ME not the book[/mfn], I could not put the book down. I had to know what was going to happen next. While we didn’t get to know all of the characters well, I have to say that my favorites were Naomi, Hudson, and Jo. However, I would like to have gotten Jo’s name a bit earlier in the book than we did[mfn]Full disclosure, we actually could have gotten her name well before I noticed it[/mfn], but it is what it is. And I would like to say that I hated Clayton from his first entrance into the story. So there’s that.

Four Found Dead is quite fast paced – it would have to be, considering that the events take place over the course of about 9 hours. Once it pulls you in, you’re hooked. You need to know how these people are getting out of this mess they’re in.

I found the little “intermission” notes interesting. They left me wondering exactly who it was who was telling this story, or at least, who was giving their two-cents between some of the chapters. You will find out at the end, and trust me, it wasn’t anyone I was expecting.

The ending is great and quite interesting. There are some things that are foreshadowed earlier, but then you kind of decide that can’t be the case later… only to have it thrown in your face that it was true all along.

I gave this one 4.5 stars – it was a great book and now I’m planning to find other books by Ms. Richards as well.

Tales from An Exorcist cover - read February 2023

Tales From an Exorcist by Reverend William J Bean

Published on by Charli

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This book may contain material that is disturbing to some readers. Please Google for a full list of trigger warnings. Thank you!
Tales From an Exorcist by Reverend William J BeanTales From An Exorcist by William J Bean
Published by Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp on 10/04/2022
Pages: 200
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley

This book is based on some of the personal experiences and Case Files of Reverend William J. Bean. Some of the names, locations, dates, and events have been changed in order to protect the identities of the victims and families.

I'm Reverend Bill Bean, and I'm also known as The Spiritual Warrior. I have performed exorcism for people from all over America and the world. I've been involved in every type of case imaginable, and I can tell you with great certainty that demons possess people, places, and things.

A battle has been taking place ever since the creation of mankind. It's the battle for the souls of human beings. Some might scoff at this, not believing in GOD, the devil, heaven, hell, angels or demons. I can personally verify and attest to the reality and validity of all of the above.

I travel all over America, helping people to become free from a variety of issues. Whether it may be depression, suicidal thoughts or attempts, relationship problems, anger and emotional issues, trauma issues, curses, drug, alcohol and porn addictions, demonic attachment, demonic oppression to demonic possession. I have encountered all of it and then some.

This book is going to take you on quite a journey, from my personal experiences with demonic forces, to my battles against them as a spiritual warrior.

CW: Religion, Suicide/Suicidal Thoughts, Demonic Possession, Abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental Illness

When I saw this book on NetGalley, I chose to read/review it because I recognized Reverend Bean. I’d actually seen him on an episode of Ghost Nation that featured a plantation that was purported to possibly have demonic activity going on in the house/on the property. While I wasn’t overly impressed with his methods on the show, I thought it would be interesting to read about some of his cases – because that’s what Tales From an Exorcist is – recountings of a selection of the exorcisms he’s performed.

I’m going to come right out and say it – I’m still not impressed by Reverend Bean. The entire book gives me the impression that he doesn’t actually believe in mental illness, addiction, etc. as actual issues/conditions, but instead believes that demons are to blame for these things. This is a viewpoint I absolutely can’t stand and absolute abhor when it comes up in books, television shows, etc.. While nothing ever actually comes right out and states this is his viewpoint, he blames a demon for attempting to kill one of the people he was helping when she attempted suicide while he was present in one of the cases told about in the book.

Reverend Bean also makes an interesting connection – conveniently, most, if not all, cases of demonic possession he’s dealt with involve people who were victims of some sort of childhood trauma and/or abuse. He states that these people are “low” and are “more susceptible” to demonic possession due to not having a good relationship with God.

I find his writing style to be obnoxious as well – there is no need to use all-caps when referring to God[mfn] Examples: GOD, YOU, YOUR, YAHWEH, HalleluYAH, etc..[/mfn] – a simple capitalization of the first letter is all that is necessary. Even the Bible doesn’t use all-caps for God’s various names. Yet when Reverend Bean refers to Jesus, he only capitalizes the first letter of Jesus’ name. I also found that I felt like Reverend Bean was a bit too boastful in his writing – it almost made me feel as though he were saying “look at me, look what I did to help these people” while also attempting to give credit to God for helping him “rid someone of demonic possession”.

All in all I found this book to be very off-putting – the idea that one’s relationship with God makes them more or less likely to be possessed by demons, making claims that being abused as a child allows demons to possess someone, etc., just strikes me as self-serving and irritating. Unless you’re into this kind of thing, I wouldn’t recommend reading the book.

Book Cover for The Q by Amy Tintera

The Q by Amy Tintera

Published on by Charli

Hello again everyone. I’m back with another blog tour – this time I’m featuring The Q by Amy Tintera, a post-apocalyptic YA science fiction novel. Read on for more information on the book and my review of it.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Q by Amy TinteraThe Q by Amy Tintera
Published by Random House Children's Books on 11/08/2022
Genres: Young Adult / Science Fiction
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
Amazon // IndieBound
Goodreads

In this action-packed adventure from a New York Times bestselling author, two teenagers from opposite worlds must fight their way through a vast walled quarantine zone in a dystopian America toward their only chance for survival.

Seventeen-year-old Maisie Rojas has spent her entire life in the Q—a post-pandemic quarantine zone that was once Austin, Texas. Born and raised behind the high security walls that sealed their fate, she's now a trusted lieutenant for one of the territory's controlling families.

Lennon Pierce, the charismatic son of a US presidential candidate, has just been kidnapped by his father's enemies and dropped out of a plane into the Q with nothing but a parachute strapped to his back. Lennon is given a temporary antidote to the disease and crucial intel for his father, but Maisie must get him out of the zone within forty-eight hours--or he will be permanently infected and forced to remain.

With unrest brewing both inside and outside the Q, reaching the exit is a daunting and dangerous task. But if Maisie and Lennon fail, it could mean disaster for the entire quarantine zone and its inhabitants—and could cost Lennon his life.

Strap in for breakneck action and compelling characters in this timely, nonstop thriller.

If you don’t know by now, I love a good thriller – YA, adult, you name it, I’m probably going to at least try it. But with this one, we also have the science fiction bent with the post-apocalyptic style which was intriguing to me.

Characters

There are a lot of characters in this book. Some play bigger roles than others, as always. I’m going to detail three characters here that I feel the need to talk about.

Maisie Rojas

Maisie Rojas is our female main character and she’s a great one. The daughter of the former second-in-command of the southern part of The Q, everyone expected her to take over when her father passed away. Unfortunately that didn’t happen (although it should have). She was born in The Q and has never seen the outside world. There’s a plot twist that happens regarding Maisie’s character, one that I’m hoping might lead to at least one sequel for this book. You’ll come to love Maisie as she can be sweet and caring but tough as nails when she needs to be.

Lennon Pierce

Our male main character, Lennon is a spoiled rich boy who ends up in The Q – not by his own doing either. At first it seems like he’s going to be a totally unlikeable character, but he turns out to be very likeable – if not loveable. I really enjoyed his character and seeing a side of him that the outside world never got to see. Plus the plot twist with him at the end makes me, again, hopeful for a sequel.

Declan

This character you will come to absolutely despise and if you don’t… I’m not sure if we’re reading the same book. Honestly, this guy is a total jerk[mfn]Douchebag, really.[/mfn]. I found myself wanting to punch him squarely in the face and somewhere else… just saying. There’s a really funny interaction between Declan and Lennon that will have you snickering – at least it did me.

Atmosphere

So this book is set entirely in a quarantine zone that is known as The Q to its inhabitants and the outside world alike. The description of a post-apocalyptic-type Austin, Texas was compelling and made me realize that they’d crammed all these people who had contracted this virus into one city and expected them to stay there basically forever.

The Q is divided into five sections – there is the South, East Spencer, West Spencer, Val’s Territory, and Northgate. The South is “ruled” by the Lopez family while the North is divided into four territories run by various members of the Spencer family. You’ll come to appreciate this information more when you read the book.

The atmosphere is great – you’ll feel like you’re actually there or can at least picture it.

Writing

This book is excellently written. The writing style is easy to follow and flows beautifully. You aren’t left wondering what happened or, as I’ve found with some authors, wondering if the author actually knows how to put sentences together[mfn]Sadly, I’ve seen this more than once.[/mfn]. Everything moves along and we don’t bounce back and forth in time, so you’ll always know what’s going on and where you are. Definitely great writing.

Plot

This book has wonderful plot. It wasn’t a war that caused this post-apocalyptic version of Austin, Texas – it was the US Government preventing a pandemic by quarantining all of the people who’d contracted a new virus in Austin, Texas. Then the son of a presidential candidate (Lennon) is kidnapped and dropped into the quarantine zone – a quarantine zone the US Government has never allowed anyone to leave… but they’ll let this person leave. The journey to get Lennon to Northgate so he can leave before time runs out is harrowing and fun.

Intrigue

There is a bit of intrigue to this book. We have a mysterious helper in Northgate who has been helping the South, but we don’t know who he is or why he’s helping them. We also have some intrigue when it comes to certain events that I won’t talk about… and yes, we do get answers to both things, so you won’t leave the book unsatisfied in that respect.

Logic

This book moves in a logical manner from beginning to end. You won’t have to pay too much attention to where you are – just note that the chapters change viewpoints. The only viewpoints I recall seeing are Maisie and Lennon’s and it seems to change each chapter. Other than that, you won’t have to wonder what’s going on because of some weird side-quest that doesn’t fit the plot. Anything you find in this book logically fits into the story where it is.

Ending

I loved the ending of this book. Total plot twist that I kind of saw coming, but wasn’t sure would actually happen until it did. There were actually two ways I saw it ending, so I had to wait to see which one would come to pass. The ending leaves us in a place where the story could end there, but certain things that have happened in the book also leave us in a place where it’s possible to put a sequel into the mix. It was a great ending and I enjoyed it.

About the Author

Green space background with green guitar and the words Blending Chords and amy kaybach on the front

Blending Chords by Amy Kaybach

Published on by Charli1 Comment

I received an advance copy of this book from Author to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Blending Chords by Amy KaybachBlending Chords by Amy Kaybach
Also by this author: Bridging the Silence, Blurring the Lines
Series: Blind Rebels #2
Also in this series: Reviving The Rhythm, Finding Harmony
Published by Amy Kaybach on 06/24/2022
Genres: Rockstar Romance
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Author
Amazon
Goodreads

Callum
Guitarist. Rock star. Blind Rebels bandmate. My public persona embodies all of these titles fans have gifted upon me. But none of them matter as much as the role bestowed on me two years ago: father.

My son is my world, yet juggling being a single father with everything else hasn’t been easy. I know I need help, but how can I trust a stranger with the one thing my entire world revolves around?

Arista
I must get out of my sister’s house. As much as I love her, I can’t tolerate her handsy husband. Armed with a degree in early childhood education, I’m determined to find a live-in nanny position that will allow me to truly make a difference in a child’s life with one-on-one interaction.

Being a nanny for Callum Donogue looked like the opportunity of a lifetime. Unfortunately, he seems to resent me being there, spending time with his son. Can we find a way to make this work? Or will our constant clashing prompt him to hang up his guitar and abandon the Blind Rebels mid-tour?

Ok, so again, we all know that I don’t read a ton of romance books. Namely because I usually don’t care much for them. But there are certain types of romance books that I enjoy, and a good rockstar romance is one of them. So of course I was going to read the second book in the Blind Rebels series by Amy Kaybach. After how much I loved the first book, Bridging the Silence? There was no way you’d catch me dead not reading Blending Chords!

Blending Chords is the story of Blind Rebels guitarist Callum Donogue and the woman he hires to be his live-in nanny, Arista. Now before I go any further, I feel like I should post a couple of trigger warnings because, well, they’re there – there are mentions of suicidal thoughts, sexual assault/abuse, death of family members, and kidnapping. If any of these things are trigger points for you, I recommend being very careful while reading this book. Now…

I know I gave this book 5 stars as I did Bridging the Silence. If a book keeps me on my toes and wanting to read more, then it gets 5 stars, especially if it is a romance novel. So let’s get into why I gave it 5 stars, shall we?

Characters

Callum

I’m not going to lie, Callum can be an asshole. I mean, I get where he’s coming from – after all, he has a son[mfn]Gibson[/mfn] to think/worry about, his son’s mother abandoned him and signed her rights to him away just a few days after he was born, and he’s a rock star who has obligations to his band, Blind Rebels. But he can still be a real asshole. At least he knows it and he makes attempts to rectify his mistakes when he’s being an asshole. Of course, there are a couple of parts where you’ll see that his being an asshole is completely justified.

Arista (Ari)

I giggled when I saw her name because I’m old enough to remember the record company called Arista.[mfn]I wonder if they’re still around…[/mfn]. In any case, I like that Ari has issues but does her best not to let them interfere too much with her life. Of course, she still, like any human being, let’s them define her life, but only to a point. Many people in her situation would be far more messed up than she is. She obviously cares about Gibson and about kids in general. She’s an interesting character who has layers.

Viola (Vi)

Although we don’t see a lot of Vi, she’s Ari’s older sister. I won’t give away why she’s important to the story, but I will say that she truly embodies what a sister should be. I really liked her and almost hope we can get a story (even if it’s a novella) about Vi’s life after Blending Chords.

Todd

Vi’s husband. Without giving too much away, I wanted to throttle him from the beginning to the end of the book. Believe me when I say you will too – and if you don’t, um…. yeah… I’m going to just leave that there. Asshole doesn’t begin to describe this person.

Review

This one took me longer to read, but that’s more because I was dealing with my own life issues than because the book wasn’t good enough to keep going on. I actually ended up starting the book on my phone because my Kindle needed to be charged and I wanted to get started on it.

Even when I wasn’t reading it because I couldn’t focus[mfn]Stupid life issues[/mfn], I was thinking about it and wondering how certain things I’d already read would play out.

Amy certainly knows how to write great characters and great plot twists. There was one “plot twist” that involved a mystery character – who I correctly guessed before I found out who it was – but the character was written in a way that you did wonder who it could possibly be.

One of the first plot twists is one that will piss you off – I know it did me. How anyone could do that to Ari is beyond me and although you never do find out for certain who did it… I have a sneaking suspicion I know.

While this book doesn’t have the typical “burned by love” storyline, it does have atypical – because the people who burned them aren’t people they truly loved or even thought they truly loved. This makes it interesting to me because the burned by love trope is usually characterized by the one who is burned having truly loved/adored the person who hurt them. In one of our characters’ case, I want to beat the person who hurt them within an inch of their life.

One thing I like about Blending Chords – while they are meant to be read in order of release, meaning while you really should read Bridging the Silence first, you actually could read Blending Chords first and not be too lost. Sure, there might be a few things mentioned that make you wonder what’s going on, but for the most part, it reads like a stand alone book. Of course, that could be because I did read Bridging the Silence first.

I don’t believe that will be the case with the next book, Reviving the Rhythm[mfn]To be released in September 2022[/mfn], based on the ending of Blending Chords, but we’ll see.

If you love Rockstar Romance or want to get into it, I highly recommend picking up both Bridging the Silence and Blending Chords. You’ll fall in love with these boys in Blind Rebels, I guarantee it.

Blending Chords will be available on Amazon as a Kindle book or in paperback on June 24, 2022. You can also purchase signed paperbacks on Amy’s website.

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi

Published on by Charli
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. ChoiEmergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi
Published by Simon and Schuster on April 9, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Dating & Relationships, Dating & Sex, Friendship, General, Juvenile Nonfiction, Love & Romance, Romance, Social Themes, Social Topics, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 416
Format: Audiobook
Source: Scribd

“Smart and funny, with characters so real and vulnerable, you want to send them care packages. I loved this book.” —Rainbow Rowell
From debut author Mary H.K. Choi comes a compulsively readable novel that shows young love in all its awkward glory—perfect for fans of Eleanor & Park and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
For Penny Lee, high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she’d somehow landed a boyfriend, they never managed to know much about each other. Now Penny is heading to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer. It’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.
Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.
When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to, you know, see each other.

TW: Abuse, Racism, Mommy Issues, Daddy Issues (I’m sorry it’s been a month since I listened to it, so if there are triggers I missed, I’m sorry.)

Emergency Contact is the story of Penny and Sam. Neither of them is a particularly likable character. They are seriously messed up. But if I have to choose one over the other, I’ll take Sam, thanks.

For one, both have issues with their mothers, but for different reasons. To my idea, Sam has a legitimate reason to have issues with his mother, considering what she did to him. Penny, on the other hand, has issues with her mother for being herself. Penny seems to think that her mom is embarrassing and a pain in Penny’s butt on purpose. To my idea, that’s ludicrous and Penny is just being a brat.

When Penny moves to college and meets Sam via her dorm roommate, they become friends and text each other. Which is fine. Except they don’t tell anyone. They literally keep this a secret, when at first, there is literally no reason to. They’re just friends who talk to each other.

By the way, it takes way too long for them to figure out they have feelings for each other. Seriously. I thought they’d never figure it out. I had it figured out way before they did.

I don’t care for Mary H. K. Choi’s writing style – at least not in this book. I don’t mind books with multiple points of view, but this one was just irritating. At times it didn’t even seem like Sam and Penny were in the same story the way the chapters jumped around between Penny and Sam.

I gave it one star because I just did not like the book at all. I might give Permanent Record a try, but if it’s anything like Emergency Contact, I’m going to chalk it up to Mary H. K. Choi not being the author for me.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Published on by Charli
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly JacksonA Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Also by this author: Five Survive, Kill Joy
Series: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder #1
Also in this series: Kill Joy
Published by Random House Children's Books on January 5, 2021
Genres: Law & Crime, Prejudice & Racism, Social Themes, Thrillers & Suspense, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Personal Library

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT!
An addictive must-read mystery with shades of Serial and Making a Murderer about an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you'll never expect.
Everyone in Fairview knows the story.
Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.
But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?
Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.
And don't miss the sequel, Good Girl, Bad Blood!
"The perfect nail-biting mystery." --Natasha Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author

If there is one thing I do like, it is a good mystery. This one was definitely one of the good ones. The first thing you learn in A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is that Sal Singh killed Andie Bell. At least that’s what everyone in town believes. Except Sal’s family and one other person. That person is our main character, Pippa.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – The Main Characters

Pippa is sort of an interesting character. She’s every faculty member’s dream. Her homework is done on time and very neatly. She studies all the time. Even when she chose to prove Sal Singh was innocent, she worked on that all the time. While she is an interesting character, I don’t think we got to see enough of her real personality. We got more of the workaholic than we did the actual person with Pippa. While she may be the main character in A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, she isn’t the best main character I’ve ever seen.

Now we move on to Ravi Singh. Ravi is our second main character and Sal’s younger brother. He and his family have been deeply hurt by town’s belief that Sal killed Andie Bell. He would do pretty much anything to be able to have Sal’s name cleared. His personality has been shaped by the events that took place in 2014, when his brother was declared as Andie Bell’s killer. I wasn’t attached to him either. He just seemed a bit flat to me somehow. Maybe it was because I read most of the book between midnight and three AM.

The Review

I have to say that A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was a great book – as far as the plot went. The plot had a lot of action in it and it was a fairly fast read once I actually sat down to read it.

One thing I found interesting about the book is that it is clearly set in the United States. However, Holly Jackson lives in the UK (London to be precise) and so some things that are unique to that part of the world are found in the book. They’re just little things, like everyone wanting tea instead of coffee. It doesn’t detract from the book in any way and I actually enjoyed it.

If there is one thing that you will find in A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, it is mystery. First, the mystery of why Sal was pegged as Andie Bell’s murderer. Then we have the mystery of who doesn’t want Pippa investigating this case. Finally, we have the mystery of who really killed Andie Bell.

There are some heart-stopping moments in this book and it will definitely have you wondering what the outcome will be. I definitely never guessed it!

If you’ve read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and you liked it, you might also like There’s Someone in Your House by Stephanie Perkins.

5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit by Nicki Koziarz

Published on by Charli

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit by Nicki Koziarz5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn't Quit by Nicki Koziarz
Published by B&H Publishing Group on March 1, 2016
Genres: Christian Life, Religion, Women's Issues
Pages: 224
Format: ARC
Source: NetGalley

Have you ever gotten to the place where you just couldn’t take it anymore?   Dreams. Programs. Jobs. Relationships. There are so many different areas where we feel like calling it quits.   It’s time for an honest conversation on how not to give in to the temptation to give up.   Nicki Koziarz is a woman who has thrown in the towel a time or two. In fact, she’s quit just about everything in her life. But with God’s help, she’s discovered a few habits that have helped her and others conquer the choice to quit.  5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit will enable you to:

Evaluate the internal personal struggles that make you want to quit.
Cultivate consistent habits to help you progress toward your goals.
Receive a fresh dose of perspective from the Bible that will help you develop perseverance. 

You are not made to quit! Join Nicki as she identifies five habits to help you keep going no matter what struggles may come your way.  

Nicki Koziarz wrote 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit for me. I have a horrible habit of quitting the things I commit to doing. I’ve quit going to my offline book clubs. I’ve quit doing things with my online book clubs. I haven’t been doing things with my blogging groups. About the only thing I have not quit is going to school.

So yes, Nicki Koziarz wrote 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit for me. She wrote this book for you too. After all, I’m pretty sure you quit things as well.

Nicki Koziarz writes a book about Ruth and how she doesn’t quit. She details the 5 habits Ruth exhibits that means she doesn’t quit when the times get tough. Using Ruth’s story makes the habits Nicki is trying to tell us about easier to understand. As a result, the concepts outlined in this book are extremely easy to grasp.

When writing 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit, Nicki tells us of several times in her life when she has wanted to quit. Quit working out, quit writing the book, quit trying to buy their Fixer Upper Farm (you HAVE to read that story – trust me). She lets you know that she is not perfect. She lets you know that she struggles with faith, with quitting, and with everything else. The result is a book that is funny, real, and will probably step on your toes, but in a good way.

She includes extras like sample prayers, Bible verses to help you not quit, and other things. If you are a woman who quits, 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit is written for you.

I chose to give 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit four stars. While this book is amazing, there is always room for improvement. I feel the book is a bit too quick of a read at only 154 pages.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Published on by Charli1 Comment
Ninth House by Leigh BardugoNinth House by Leigh Bardugo
Published by Flatiron Books on October 8, 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Occult & Supernatural, Paranormal, Supernatural, Thrillers
Pages: 448
Format: Hardcover
Source: Personal Library

A LOCUS AWARD FINALIST!
The mesmerizing adult debut from Leigh Bardugo, a tale of power, privilege, dark magic, and murder set among the Ivy League elite
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.

Ninth House was one of my most anticipated releases for October. I like Leigh Bardugo’s writing style. And I admit, I was curious to see if she can actually write adult fiction as well as she writes Young Adult fiction. The answer to that question is, she does.

I picked up Ninth House for the Barnes & Noble Book Club. It was November’s book of the month to read. It took me much longer to read the book because the episcleritis in my right eye made it painful to read – you never realize how much your eyes move until you try to read with an eye that hurts if it moves. In all honesty, I think that’s the only real reason it took so long to read this book.

As with most of Leigh Bardugo’s books, it does have a slightly slow, slightly confusing start. Where the prologue starts, you have no idea of what might be going on. Don’t worry, you’ll get there. You just have to be patient. Once you get into the story though, you’ll be sucked in. I read the last 200 pages or so in one sitting, my eye be damned. I didn’t want to put it down.

I liked Alex. She’s a tough kid but she’s also vulnerable. She comes from nothing, doesn’t feel like she belongs at Yale and from a standpoint of money, she really doesn’t. After all, she’s not rich. Her parents couldn’t pay her way in. She’s there because Lethe wants her. But she redeems herself well.

Dean Sandow is just plain a jerk. He’s one of those men who blames the victim. You’ll see what I mean, but honestly, he’s just a douche of a character that I really didn’t like at any point in the story. You might think he was doing Alex a favor by offering her a scholarship and a fresh start, but he’s only out for himself as you’ll see.

Darlington, an absent character that we get to know vicariously through what amounts to memories, is a mystery even after the fact. I think he’ll figure even more prominently in book 2, for reasons I won’t be disclosing.

Dawes – Pammie/Oculus – is an interesting character. She’s shy, she doesn’t know how to handle people. And she becomes very attached to the people that she cares for. She’s a fierce champion for her friends and those she loves and frankly, she is not to be trifled with.

Detective Turner is another one who is out for himself. He just wants to get ahead and make some money on the side by being Centurion for Lethe. He helps them investigate deaths or crimes that might be related to the Houses, but honestly, I didn’t care for him.

The book deals with some pretty deep situations such as frat parties that end in the rape of drugged girls, rape where the victim is believed to just be acting out instead of being a victim, and even victim blaming – although the victim blaming is in connection with a non-sexual attack. I, and the group of book club members who were mostly women, felt that Ms. Bardugo handled these things well, showing in a veiled way how society sees these types of things.

I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars because I felt it was awesome but could use some improvement. There were a couple of blatant editing errors. The ending of the book more than makes up for it, but not enough to give it a full five stars.