A Bookworm's Book Reviews

Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore – Emily Krempholtz

Title: Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore

Author: Emily Krepholtz

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Violet Thistlewaite is looking to settle down after her former boss, and villain, Guy Shadowfade, was killed. She was Shadowfade’s right hand witch, known as the Thornwitch. Her ability is to control and grow plants. But Violet can also destroy a whole farm’s crops in minutes. Now that Shadowfade is dead, Violet wants to start a new life. She settles in Dragon’s Rest and opens a floral shop. Her grumpy landlord Nathaniel Marsh, is hesitant to welcome her. He’s seen what Shadowfade and the Thornwitch can do. So, he’s weary of any newcomers in case they want to take over since Shadowfade’s gone. The longer that Violet stays in Dragon’s Rest, the easier the good side of her magic is to use. The less worried she is of anyone learning she was the Thornwitch. She’s great at encouraging Nathaniel and the other residents of Dragon’s Rest to be open to new things. Her floral business starts booming. When a blight starts affecting the town’s crops. Nathaniel and Violet come together to find the solution. But what is causing the blight? Is it the shady stranger that also worked with Shadowfade that recently moved to town? Is it someone else? Will Violet and Nathaniel be able to stop the blight? Or is it too late?

Rating: 4.5 – a great story about starting over.

Opinion: This was a great book. I really enjoyed the themes of starting over and healing. It is important to know that it’s okay to start over, even you don’t have squeaky clean past. You can have a past, but you don’t have to let it define you. People can change, if they’re willing. For the book, I do like that people wanted Violet to reveal her past on her own time, and not their own. Revealing the hard things about the past is hard. So when people get the chance to talk about it on their own terms, it makes them feel more validated and accepted. I like that the book talks about living up to your parent’s legacy. Nathaniel wanted to live up to his parent’s legacy by doing the same thing they did, but can’t because he’s not them, which leaves him frustrated. I liked that Violet helped him find his own path while honoring his parent’s legacy. It made me happy that the two learn to work together to find the cure for the blight. They use their strengths to help the town. They both want to help and do so to the best of their ability. In the end, they do find a way to cure the blight and capture the new bad guy. I liked that the ending was all wrapped up but left a loose string or two so that there could be sequels sometime in the future.

Pandora – Susan Stokes-Chapman

Title: Pandora

Author: Susan Stokes-Chapman

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Plot: Dora Blake is the daughter of late antiquities dealers in 1799 London. Her scheming Uncle Hezekiah now runs the shop. He passes forgeries as the real deal while hiding the fact that he has real antiques on sale for the black market. Dora starts to realize this when a Greek vase comes into the shop. Some of the people who transported it say it’s cursed. Hezekiah brushes off though his recent injury could say otherwise. Dora starts to investigate and break free while Hezekiah blokes her at every turn. She turns to an amateur antiques expert, Edward Lawrence, for help. But his help comes with hidden strings. Edward wants to investigate the black market antiquities sales and Hezekiah’s shop might be his ticket. So, who can Dora really trust? Can she find out the truth of the Greek vase? Will she ever escape Hezekiah’s thumb?

Rating: 3.4 – an interesting historical fiction mystery

Opinion: This was an interesting book. It was different than I was expecting. I thought it was going to focus more on the mysterious vase. But the vase is just one of the many subplots in the book. The story focuses more on Dora’s plans for making her own way in the world away from her uncle and Edward’s plan to get into the world of antique dealership. For me, it took away from the story. There were too many things going on to distract from the mystery of the vase. It made it feel like less of a mystery and more of a simple historical fiction. It made it harder for me to connect to the characters. They know people who connected them to the answers they were looking for and for ways to get around Hezekiah. It also made it feel like there wasn’t as much of a plot. I kept waiting for more mystery about the vase but nothing really ever came of it. They found what was really going on with the vase. They found out the mystery behind how the vase came to be and what Hezekiah had to do with it. This was a decent book but not one of my favorite ones. I’d recommend it for anyone who wants a simpler historical fiction mystery.

Through Water and Stone – Karen Barnett

Title: Through Water and Stone

Author: Karen Barnett

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Talia has just lost her job with an athletic clothing company. She returns to her grandfather’s house in Zion National Park in shame. But her grandfather welcomes Talia home with open arms. Talia picks up a job with the gift shop in Zion. On the way, she gets pulled over by a park ranger, Blake. Though they had a rough start, they soon become friends. On a date, they decide to try the ancestry sites. Talia learns that her ancestors might not really be her ancestors. She starts to do some digging and learns what really happened to her grandfather’s family.

Henry and Alma Eriksson work in Zion National Park in 1948. They’ve recently lost their son in a flash flood. Almost a year later, they find a baby boy abandoned near a bridge on one of Henry’s patrol routes. The park rangers and police search for the baby’s parents with no luck. Henry and Alma agree to care for the baby boy and make the adoption official when no parents come forward. Three years later, a couple, the Johnson’s, come forward saying the now three year old is theirs. The evidence is circumstantial, but fits. Is the baby truly the Johnson’s? Or someone else’s?

Rating: 4.0 – a sweet telling of found family and finding your true purpose

Opinion: This was a really sweet book. I enjoyed learning more about Zion National Park. I heard about it but never realized how beautiful and dangerous it is. You hear about the flash floods, but not realize how fast they truly happen, especially in the slot canyons. But I loved seeing the characters in the book come together. Everyone in the park treated each other like family. All of the staff protected and cared for each other whenever they could. I thought it was interesting that Hank and Alma never told Billy that he was adopted. But I think it was different back then. And with all of the drama surrounding his discovery and early childhood, I could imagine why they wouldn’t want to tell him. I still wondered why they didn’t tell him when he was older. It made me happy that they still treated him like he was truly part of the family, especially the other people working in the park. As far as anyone was concerned, Billy was Hank and Alma’s son. I appreciate this author because all of her sappy romance is clean. There’s an element of friendship that blossoms into romance. The characters truly care for and support each other. All of the characters have a great character arc. They learn from their mistakes and grow. I also love that there’s always aspects of Christianity in the books and that there’s always lessons to be learned about life in her books. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves Christian based historical fiction books.

Prepared – Courtney Konstantin

Title: Prepared

Author: Courtney Konstantin

Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi

Plot: Alex has a nice life with her family in the suburbs of Las Vegas. Then a wave of disease sweeps the country, turning everyone into cannibalistic monsters dubbed the infected. She’d always thought her doomsday preparing father was odd, now she understands all the lessons he taught her and her sister. Now Alex uses what her father taught her to keep her family safe. And get them to safety in her father’s old compound in Montana. But her first step is to get her kids out of the house and past the infected and into the RV. Once the kids are in the RV, Alex high tails it into the desert around Las Vegas. But soon, Alex and her kids need to resupply. When Alex encounters a family who just lost their parents, Alex takes in two more kids, teenagers this time. They’re quick to help Alex out, which she is very grateful for the extra help. As they travel, they quickly learn who they can trust. But their allies are always changing and thinning out thanks to the infected. So who can they really trust? Can Alex keep her expanded going after all of the horrors they’ve seen? Will they ever make it to her father’s compound?

Rating: 4.0 – a different take on the zombie apocalypse

Opinion: This was an interesting book. I stopped to talk with the author at the Saturday market in my hometown over the summer. I’d never read a zombie apocalypse book, so I thought I’d give it a try. Then I thought October would be the perfect month to read a zombie apocalypse book. It was surprisingly good. It wasn’t as graphic as I thought it was going to be. There was still violent moments, cause zombies, but there wasn’t so much a focus on the gore while their fighting them off. I liked the book focused more on family, and found family, and taking care of each other when the world is going to pieces. More of the people wanted to work together. I liked that Alex got the kids safe before setting off to kill the zombies. Though how the author described that part got a little repetitive for me. I found it interesting that the author based the zombie outbreak off of a true event out of Florida. I got a kick out of the moment when mom curses in front of the kids, and one of the kids called her out on it. It made the story a little more true to life for me cause I could see a kid doing that in real life. Overall, it was a really good book and surprisingly easy read. It is a part of a series that I’ll read sometime soon, hopefully. I highly recommend this book for someone who enjoys zombie apocalypse style books.

No Ordinary Dog – Will Chesney

Title: No Ordinary Dog

Author: Will Chesney

Genre: Memoir

Plot: Will Chesney grew up wanting to be a Navy SEAL. He was bound and determined to pass all of the requirements, even when some of his friends ‘wash out.’ Will pushes through basic training, and BUDS (which included the dreaded Hell Week) for a year before he becomes a SEAL. During his first deployment in Afghanistan, he sees the values of having a dog on his team. Will signs up for dog handler training. Upon completing training, he goes to see where the military gets their dogs. The team comes back with two. Will gets assigned to a Malinois named Cairo. The two form an immediate bond. They work very well together. Everyone is impressed with Cairo’s ability to get the job done and still be friendly. Then Cairo gets injured on his first deployment during a night mission in Afghanistan. Will is obviously worried about his dog. While Cairo recovers, Will learns what happened on that mission. Cairo had done everything right and was trying to come back to Will. The dog had done everything right and saved soldiers lives when he found some of the ‘bad guys.’ Will finishes his deployment while Cairo heals from his wounds. Not long after Will returns, he gets the call that he’s getting deployed again with Cairo. Will learns he and Cairo are going to be a part of Operation Neptune Spear. This operation was going after Osama bin Laden. Their mission is clear, clear the compound, get bin Laden, dead or alive. Will and Cairo help secure the compound while the other soldiers search for bin Laden and his men. The mission goes down with few hitches. Will and Cairo, and the rest of SEAL team 6, return home as heroes. They even get to meet President Barak Obama and Joe Biden. Not long after they return, Will starts getting sick with migraines and back pain. As much as modern medicine helps, it’s being with Cairo that helps the most. As much as Will wants to stay with the SEALS, he puts in for medical retirement. Then Cairo his much deserved retirement. Will petitions to get Cairo, and is granted. Together, they learn about how to deal with life after the Navy Seals until the end.

Rating: 4.5 – a great look at the real life of a Navy SEAL and a military dog handler

Opinion: This was an incredible book. It really shows an in depth look of what happens in the military and Navy SEAL program. I liked seeing an in depth look into how tough the Navy SEAL training really is. It makes sense why only a few people in each group make it through the entire training program. You hear about how tough the training really is, but to actually see what happened, makes it that much easier to understand. It takes a special sort of person to make it through SEAL training. The book shows a great look of what it takes to be a SEAL and a dog handler. It was interesting, but understandable why not a lot of soldiers wanted to be dog handlers in the military. With all of their duties, soldiers would’ve added their dog handler duties on top of that. But, you could tell how much the dogs meant to the soldiers, and how much they helped on their missions. It was easy to see in the book how much Cairo meant to Will, and how much Will meant to Cairo. It makes sense, but I found it interesting that the military dogs had to stay in a kennel instead of staying with the soldiers. Especially since the military wanted the handler and dog to have a strong bond. I found it interesting learning more about the mission that took down Osama bin Laden. For some reason, I thought there would’ve been a lot more complications with the mission. With how big of a target he was, I thought there would’ve been more resistance. It made me so happy that Will was able to adopt Cairo after his retirement. I liked Will’s honesty with his and Cairo’s struggles after both of them retired. I liked that he found people to help and support him through his rough seasons in life. I cried when Will talked about the end of Cairo’s life. Their story was so well written. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a solider’s viewpoint of the Navy SEALs and an amazing story of the bond between humans and dogs.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow – Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Haunting of Paynes Hollow

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Thriller

Plot: Samatha Payne is reluctant to hear her grandfather’s will. She hasn’t been in contact with him in over fourteen years. Not after she saw her dad bury a neighbor kid and took his own life after being accused of murder. Samantha wanted to leave everything behind. But with her Aunt Gail’s help, she agrees to go. The lawyer says Samantha is set to inherit her grandfather’s entire property if she can spend a month at the cabin there. He wants to truly see that her father was not the man she thought. If she can do it, she can sell the property and earn the money she so desperately needs. If she doesn’t, the property will go to someone who really doesn’t need the money or care about the place. So, Samantha goes to her grandfather’s place. Her aunt decides to accompany her. Not long after, she starts seeing things from her past. Memories she wanted to keep buried. A few days into the visit, Aunt Gail goes missing. Samantha starts to question what she’s seeing. Some of the things she seeing couldn’t possibly be real. Or could they? Are the stories she’s heard growing up have some truth to them? Is there someone, or something, behind what’s going on at Paynes Hollow?

Rating: 4.3 – a great retelling of Sleepy Hollow and local mythology

Opinion: This was a great book. It started out slow, but it built up the creepy factor real quick. It started out kind of gross creepy, but it was a part of the mental game of making the main characters think they were going crazy. It made you believe the characters could be seeing things. It also connected to the character’s childhood memories. I’m also glad there were characters that helped the main characters see things rationally. There were hints about who was behind the human components that were well placed if you know where to look. I wasn’t expecting the addition of the mythology to the book. The author did a great job of blending that into the real world. It didn’t feel fake or out of place. The way the author wrote the mythology into the book felt believable. It made me want to learn more about the mythology and history of the place. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves creepy thrillers.

Legendborn Cycle 3 – Tracy Deonn

Books 1 is Legendborn, Book 2 is Bloodmarked

Title: Book 3 – Oathbound

Author: Tracy Deonn

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Plot: Brianna Matthews, Brie for short, is now in the service of the demon king who’s mascaraing as Erebus, a leader for the Merlins for the Order. He’s teaching Brie how to control her powers. Soon after starting, Brie realizes she’s missing the people she’s ever known. She knows who she is, but can’t remember the people from her life. Twin siblings and cambions, Zoe and Elijah are servants to demon king. They have their own missions to carry out in secret. One day, Brie convinces the twins to let her come with. They’re looking into about the demon king’s lost crown. At the meeting place, Brie sees another Rootcrafter, another girl with magic like Brie, being kidnapped. She tries to help, but told not to. So she comes up with a plan to help the kidnapped girl, and keep the demon king from getting his crown. At the place with the crown, Brie finds people from her past, but she can’t remember them. Slowly, she learns who they were to her and how they can help each other. But complications arise while they search for the crown and the girls. On top of everything else, a former friend and Merlin, Selwyn, is trying to find Brie. What does Selwyn want with Brie? Can Brie and her friends find the crown and the kidnapped girls? Can Brie find out what really happened to the missing people in her life?

Rating: 3.8 – deeper insight into the world of Legendborns and Rootcrafters

Opinions: I enjoyed this book. But I wish that I’d reviewed the other two first since it’s been so long since I’ve read the first two. There’s so much details and world building in these books. It’s difficult to remember all of the amazing details. There were so many details in this book, too. It made the plot kind of slow at times, but was still interesting to read. It was interesting to see how the characters adapted to the challenges and curveballs the plot threw at them. With all of the things life threw at the main characters, it was nice to see that they all stayed true to each other and themselves. Even though Brie was missing parts of herself, she was still able to find herself again. I really enjoyed how much teamwork there was in the book. Every character brought something different to the team. They didn’t agree on everything, but they came together for the greater good. There was a little too much young adult drama for me, but it wasn’t as distracting as it could’ve been. The drama was in smaller bits and pieces and helped with the plot more than I thought it would. I liked that the continued themes of social justice. It felt a little more subtle in this book, though. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I recommend this book who anyone who enjoys well developed magic systems and doesn’t mind young adult books.

The Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon

Title: The Frozen River

Author: Ariel Lawhon

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Plot: Martha Ballard is a midwife and healer in rural Maine. It’s shortly after the Revolutionary War and everyone is trying to build a life for themselves. When some neighborhood find a body in the Kennebec River, Martha is called to examine the body. She learns the body is a respected man in town. She declares the man was murdered. When a new male doctor arrives in town and declares the man’s death accidental, Martha takes matters into her own hands. She knows the dead man was one the men accused of raping a friend of hers. So also joins the cause to see the men brought to justice. Can she give enough evidence to see the man brought to justice? Will she be believed, especially when one of the men accused is the judge?

Rating: 4.2 – a different style of murder mystery

Opinion: This was an interesting book. There was an interesting combination of mystery and historical fiction. The author paid a lot of attention to how the new world work at the end of the 1700’s, especially outside the major cities. I liked that the author talked about why so many people got married so quick back in the day. And she addressed the culture at the time and that they shushed certain things. The mystery more revolved around how the murder would be brought to justice. The were also some mystery about what the other man involved in the rape and his motives for other unsavory things. I really hoped there would be more justice for the woman, but the author kept it more true to the times. I liked that the main women were more independent and able to help themselves when they were in trouble. The characters were well written and well rounded. They were also very relatable. Their actions made sense. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves historical fiction and mysteries.

This Dog Will Change Your Life – Elias Weiss Friedman

Title: This Dog Will Change Your Life

Author: Elias Weiss Friedman

Genre: Memoir

Plot: Elias runs a now famous dog photography blog called The Dogist. Throughout the book, he talks about how dogs have changed his life, his friends and family’s lives, and the lives of the people he’s photographed. He talks about dog’s origins and how they became ‘man’s best friend.’ There were some chapters on how we as humans have evolved dogs for specific traits. And how we’ve bred some undesirable traits in dogs and how we’re starting to fix our mistakes. Elias talks about the rescue groups he’s helped over the years. There are lots of rescues and other groups that help street dogs and wounded people. He talks about how he became a photographer and dog photographer. There’s been so many people and dogs who’ve helped him become who he is today. Elias is thankful for everyone who’s helped him. There’s so much good that he’s seen people do for their dogs. Dogs have helped people become better people.

Rating: 4.3 – a human’s tale of how dogs became man’s best friend

Opinion: This was a fun book. I really enjoyed learning more about out the guy behind The Dogist blog. There were so many good stories about how he became who he is today. It made me happy that he’s still so grounded and wants to help so many rescues and dog services. I’m glad he included how people have messed up with some dog breeds but how some breeders are trying to fix the breeds. I like how he talks about the behind the scenes things with rescues and dog service programs. One thing that I didn’t love how scatterbrained this book seemed. There were so many ideas and stories in the chapters that it made it harder for me to follow. I don’t know why but I thought the book would be more about the dogs and a little less about the author. Overall, I did really enjoy the book. I highly recommend this book to all dog lovers.

Alchemy of Secrets – Stephanie Garber

Title: Alchemy of Secrets

Author: Stephanie Garber

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: After Holland St. James took a folklore and mythology class taught by the Professor, she’s convinced that magic is real. When her and her boyfriend track down a man known as the Watch Man, he tells them when they’ll die. Holland and her boyfriend blow it off at first. Until her boyfriend actually dies. Then Holland gets her official time of death. The Watch Man says the only way she’ll live past that time is to find the Alchemical Heart. Then she starts diving deep into the magic behind the old movies. Gabe and Adam appear and offer their help to find the Alchemical Heart. Both say her sister, January, sent them to help keep her alive. Both have their own motives for helping. Then Holland finds clues that could help her find the Heart. Can either of them be trusted? When they both have type of magic, who’s to say? Will Holland be able to follow the clues? Or will time run out?

Rating: 3.5 – a different type of fantasy mystery

Opinion: This was an interesting book. I really liked the idea of this book. But it kind of fell flat for me. I liked the idea of the magic system of the book, but I felt like the rules and usages for the magic was kind of glossed over. There was a vague explanation on how it worked, but not in enough detail for me. I wanted to know more about how the characters used their magic and how they got it. The characters also kind of fell flat for me. I wanted to know more about their backstories. Again, it felt like their backstories were glossed over. It made it hard for me to connect with the characters. For me, the book felt like ‘here’s some info, now on with the story.’ I really wanted to like this story, but couldn’t get into it for these reasons. I wouldn’t have minded a longer story if the world was a little more detailed. It would’ve made the plot clearer if there’d been more descriptions of characters and how the magic system worked. I really did want to like this book, but couldn’t get into it. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a different style of fantasy mystery.