A Bookworm's Book Reviews

The Lion Women of Tehran – Marjan Kamali

Title: The Lion Women of Tehran

Author: Marjan Kamali

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Elaheh, Ellie for short, has moved to a poorer neighborhood in Tehran, capital of Iran, and started a new school. Her first friend is Homa, a girl who’s grown up in the poorer neighborhood. Despite Ellie’s mother’s protest, her and Homa remain close friends. Though they lose touch when Ellie and her mother move in with her uncle. Ellie and Homa reunite in high school when Homa gets a scholarship to Ellie’s high school. They rekindle their friendship like no time has passed. Homa encourages Ellie to pursue scholarly pursuits while a boy Ellie has a crush on pursues Ellie. Her crush, Mehrdad, encourages Ellie to continue on to college as well. Both girls get accepted to Tehran University. Ellie studies English and Homa studies pre-law. Homa also starts to get involved in the local communist movement. She wants all women in Iran to have equal rights. Then Homa is arrested and disappears. Ellie is disheartened that her closest friend is gone. She and her other friends continue on, but everything feels weird without Homa. Over the years, the two women meet by chance. Then Merhdad gets a university job in the United States. They can’t pass up the opportunity. Will Ellie and Homa find a way to get in touch again? Can their differences keep them apart? What will happen to Homa when the protests in Iran turn dangerous? Will Homa escape? Or keep fighting? And will Ellie and Mehrdad ever be able to return to Iran?

Rating: 4.5 – an incredible story of courage and friendship

Opinion: This was incredible story. I’d heard good things about this book from multiple people. I wanted to read it but kept getting distracted with other books. Then it was a book club book, so I finally got around to reading it. I was very impressed with the story. The characters are well written. They were all very fleshed out and very human. I loved seeing how their beliefs and actions affected the story. It made my heart ache or cheer with the characters. I loved reading about the history and culture of Iran. I remember learning a little about Iran in my US history classes, but it was brief. So I loved learning about the country. The author is Iranian so she knew what she was writing about. There was lots of Farsi words in the book, and I liked that the author found a way to include the definition of the words in English. Though a pronunciation guide would’ve been nice. I double checked with a coworker who’s Iranian on the pronunciation on the Farsi. I was impressed that my guess at the pronunciation was correct. I also talked with my coworker about the history and culture of Iran. She says that this book is pretty accurate. She was very gracious and answered the questions I had about the book. Overall, I really loved this book. This was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I can see why I’ve heard so many good things about it. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves historical fiction.

In Stormy Weather – Chelsea Curto

Title: In Stormy Weather

Author: Chelsea Curto

Genre: Romance

Plot: Sebastian Dunn and Quincy Monroe are rival meteorologist. Quincy’s had to fight tooth and nail to gain any traction in her career, while Sebastian’s had it easy. She runs a weather program on Youtube, chasing storms and informing people about weather phenomena. Sebastian works for ABC as a weatherman. When Sebastian returns to Florida to make a short series about weather phenomena, he and Quincy have to learn to work together. Quincy is upset when Sebastian starts popping in her show. Then they find a storm cell near their location. The two find a way to catch rare tornado footage. Sebastian says they make a good team. Quincy is reluctant to agree. But she can see the value in teamwork. When the first hurricane of the season starts approaching, Quincy and Sebastian find a way to track the storm and go storm chasing. When Quincy realizes the hurricane is changing course, she’s desperate to alert the local news stations to the changes. Sebastian comes with to support and make sure the stations believe her. Then the hurricane’s increasing strength as it makes landfall. Quincy is bound and determined to get the footage she needs. Sebastian refuses to let her go alone. Can the two find the footage they need? Can they truly overcome their differences and fall in love? Will Quincy get her dream job? Will they survive the hurricane?

Rating: 3.5 – a cute weather related romance

Opinion: This was a cute book. The author did a great job with researching the weather phenomena in the book. It made it more believable. The characters are well written for the most part. Each character has their own personality. Their friendships felt well written as well. It really felt like everyone had been friends for a very long time. Though I feel like some friends got a little too sidelined for me. Some of Quincy and Sebastian’s choices felt a little questionable, like getting very romantic during a category five hurricane. Their relationship kind of felt sudden. Like there wasn’t enough tension and build up for me. Most of their tension seems to have happened before the book started. It would’ve felt a little more believable for me if there had been more tension while they worked together, instead of rushing into the relationship. I’m glad Quincy had a great support system with Sebastian but there were a few times I felt like he might’ve overstepped. Overall, this was a cute book. I’m glad everyone got their happy endings. I recommend this book for anyone who loves sappy romantic book.

The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Orczy

Title: The Scarlet Pimpernel

Author: Baroness Orczy

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: A mysterious, masked figure named the Scarlet Pimpernel is sneaking aristocrats out of France during the French Revolution. Citizen Chauvelin is bound and determined to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel. All that most people know about him is that he’s tall and English. But the masked man always seems two steps ahead of the French authorities. Chauvelin forcibly recruits Marguerite St. Just, or Lady Blakeney, a French woman married to Englishman Lory Percy Blackeney. If Marguerite doesn’t help Chauvelin, he’ll make sure her brother is caught by the French Authorities who are putting aristocrats to death by guillotine. Will Chauvelin capture the Scarlet Pimpernel? Can Marguerite find a way to help her brother escape France and Chauvelin? And on top of everything, who is the Scarlet Pimpernel?

Rating: 3.5 – a different side of the French Revolution

Opinion: This was an interesting book. I enjoyed seeing a different side of the French Revolution. It makes sense that French Aristocrats had ways to escape the country. I don’t feel like there are a lot of books that talk about that. The ones I’ve found focus more on life inside of France during this time. The author did a great job researching this time period. Everything felt plausible during the time period. I liked the idea of a double identity. I’ve heard that this book helped pave the way for modern superhero comics. It almost felt like a Batman origin story, with less brooding and darkness. An English aristocrat wears a mask and dark clothing and saves people in danger, and always being two steps ahead of the bad guys. It took me a while to get into the book. It was slow to start with all of the character introductions and background information. Once it got going, it was interesting. I enjoyed seeing the escapades through different character perspectives. Though I wish the changes in perspectives were a little clearer. Overall, I really did like this book. It was a fun little save the day adventure. I recommend it to anyone who wants a shorter historical fiction.

The Witcher 1 – Andrzej Sapkowski

Title: The Witcher: The Last Wish

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski

Translator: Danusia Stok

Genre: Fantasy, Short Stories

Plot: Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a human with mutations that hunts monsters. These are the adventures of Geralt and some of his friends. He travels across the country, finding work and killing monsters. But work has become more and more scarce. People find some monsters can be useful. Others just want the monster’s curse broken. Others tried and failed, some died in the process, few laughed and walked away. Geralt may be up to the task. But sometimes his friends get hurt. Gerald must find a way to defeat the monster while trying to save his friend. Sometimes that means finding someone who’s only out for themselves. Join Geralt on some of his adventures.

Opinion: 4.0 – an interesting introduction to the Witcher

Rating: This was an interesting book. I wasn’t really expecting this to be a series of short stories. It made the book less dark than I thought it’d be. Maybe it was because I’d seen some of the tv show before I read the book. So I was expecting a darker book series. I was pleasantly surprised how accurate the show to the book. They took some of the stories and applied them directly to the show. They changed a couple things here and there, but overall, it was very accurate and I was okay with the changes. I liked how the author made it feel like Geralt was telling the stories, despite the stories being in third person. The short stories almost make it feel like I didn’t necessarily have to start with this book. I’ve heard it’s helpful to understand the characters better though if you start with this book. I do agree that this was a good introduction to the main characters and what their part is in the series. I’m hoping to read the other books in the series some time in the future. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes a little bit darker fantasy series.

What the Wind Knows – Amy Harmon

Title: What the Wind Knows

Author: Amy Harmon

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Anne Gallagher is a second generation Irish immigrant and well established author in 2001. Her grandfather, Eoin, raised her in America. His parents died in the fight for Irish independence from the British. Anne grew up hearing of their bravery and how they helped with the fight. Despite Anne’s pleading, Eoin wouldn’t take her to visit Ireland, saying it wasn’t safe for her. But when Eoin passes, he instructs Anne to take his ashes to Ireland and scatter them in Lough Gill, near his hometown of Sligo. When Anne goes to the lough, she suddenly finds herself in 1919 Ireland, and shot by a bullet. The local doctor, Thomas Smith, takes Anne in and tends to her wound. While she’s healing, she’s soon swept up in the fight for Irish independence. Thomas Smith was one of the prominent members for independence. She soon meets other members of the fight, like Micheal Collins and the O’Toole family. The more time Anne spends in the past, the more she comes to fall for Thomas and care for a young Eoin. And the longer she’s in the past, the more Anne wants to stay there. But she must tread carefully, as there are some people who think she’s a British spy. Will Anne be able to stay in the past? Can she find a way to stay with Thomas? Or will the past and present day separate them forever?

Rating: 4.0 – a sappy story of time travel

Opinion: This was a fascinating book. I haven’t really read any books about this time period. The author clearly did her research. There was a lot of interesting history. I enjoyed learning about the Irish side of the fight. Though, I’m sure the story was a little more sanitized than what actually happened. It was interesting how many Irish people wanted complete separation from England and the first treaty the Irish leaders didn’t feel like enough for lots of the people. It made me look up how much longer the Irish people fought for complete independence from England. I thought the characters in the book were well written and well developed. They had distinct personalities and motivations. I was really rooting for most of the characters in the book. I really wanted the best for them. I’m glad the author kept the scenes cleaner when characters fell in love. You know what the characters were doing, but there wasn’t a ton of details. This was a nice break from some of the other romance books I’ve read lately. The author also did a great job wrapping everything up in the book. I really wanted the characters together in the end and I was not disappointed. They tried to separate some of the characters and I begged the author while reading to bring them back together and I’m glad she did. I figured she wouldn’t keep them apart, but there was that slight doubt in the back of my mind. This book kind of reminded me of a cleaner, and Irish, version of Outlander. Overall, I’d highly recommend this book for anyone who loves historical fiction and Outlander.

Summer’s Never Over – Darby Bozeman

Title: Summer’s Never Over

Author: Darby Bozeman

Genre: Mystery

Plot: Five years ago, Greer left Dread’s Cove after a series of increasingly bizarre accidents caused by a local legend called the Phantom. Dread’s Cove, had to close early after a fire burned part of the camp. Greer is forced to return after her mother passed. Her mother owned and ran the camp. Now Greer is forced to decide if she wants to take over Dread’s Cove or leave it in the hands of her old friend Chelsea. To top it off, another old friend, Margo, shows up as a reporter. She wants to investigate the truth of what really happened to Stephanie the night of the fire. And what happened to Stephanie’s mother. Then strange things start to happen again. Greer wants to dismiss them, but then they start escalating. Greer refuses to believe the Phantom has returned. The more she helps Margo learn about Stephanie’s mother, the more she learns the dark secrets of the people she’s trusted the most. But who was really behind the Phantom’s accidents? It couldn’t really be one person, could it? And what really happened to Stephanie? And her mother?

Rating: 3.5 – a classic summertime mystery

Opinion: This was an interesting book. There was a lot of classic tropes of someone goes missing at a summer camp and there’s a mysterious figure lurking around camp. For the most part, I liked that the author kept it realistic, character wise. They’re well written in the fact that they have realistic reactions to the mysterious things that happen around the camp. They got overwhelmed when things got too much for them. Though I wish some of the characters grew up a little bit more. They still seem a little childish in the five years later parts. Also, I didn’t love some of the character’s motivation. It was hard for me to see the connection for their actions and motivation for their actions. It seemed like a stretch for me. I will give the author credit for doing a great job of keeping me guessing about who did it. I liked that she gave lots of good hints that it might not have been one person. It was nice that some of the accidents weren’t all connected to one person. It made it harder to figure out who did it. Overall, this wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t amazing. It was an easy read and an interesting mystery. There was enough going on to keep me interested. I recommend it for anyone who wants an easy, summer themed mystery.

The Last Contract of Isako – Fonda Lee

Title: The Last Contact of Isako

Author: Fonda Lee

Genre: Sci-Fi

Plot: Isako is a long time contractor, and swordswoman, for AstroCorp. She’s the CEO’s right hand man, taking care of the dirty work. When her boss suddenly retires, Isako assumes she’ll be forced to retire. Then her new boss offers her one more job before she leaves. Isako isn’t in a position to refuse. She needs to get the dirt on her boss’s competing company’s leader Director Uchi. Then she learns that her latest apprentice, Martim, is involved in Uchi’s schemes. She’s quick to help him. But he’s missing and no one has seen him in a week. Uchi claim he was fired and assumed dead. Isako doesn’t buy it. She searches for answers underground and with resistance fighters for answers. But Isako may not like the answers she finds. She may be in way over her head. Can she find out what really happened to her apprentice? Or will the other shadowy figures get in her way?

Rating: 3.7 – an interesting take on colonizing other worlds

Opinion: This was an interesting book. The author did a great job with world building. She did her research and everything felt plausible. This book had a realistic description of what terraforming would look like on a real scale timeline. There were a lot of intricacies in the world but it didn’t feel overwhelming. With sci-fi it can be easy to overwhelm the reader with world building but this author did a great job with not overwhelming the reader. At first it almost felt like Firefly, with more technology for everyone. I liked how the author split the story into thirds. I was curious to see how the author would bring the two stories together. She did a great job but the ending fell a little flat for me. It didn’t really feel like much changed from the beginning. Maybe that was the point but the ending didn’t do the book justice. Maybe it was the corporate politics that killed it for me. While I don’t mind politics in books, it just was a little too much for me. Overall, I did like this book, I just wished for a better ending. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves sci-fi.

Blood Bound – Ellis Hunter

Title: Blood Bound

Author: Ellis Hunter

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Astrid has been training for a duel for her country’s fate her whole life. If she wins the duel, she earns the heart, the source of all magic. The heart can heal the blight that’s ruining her kingdom. But her opponent is Prince Zryan, one of the most powerful dragon riders. Astrid knows her chances of winning are slim, but she has no choice. Then Skylar appears in the city with her group of traveling performers. When people with magic, called Blooded, around Skylar start begin disappearing, Skylar and friends wonder why. Then Astrid’s mother finds Skylar and realizes that she’s the true heir to Prince Zryan’s kingdom. Now Skylar has to fight in the duel and Astrid has a chance to win. But the more Astrid and Skylar learn about the heart, the disappearances, and king and queen, the more they question their upcoming duel. Will Astrid and Skylar be able to find a way out of their duel? Can they protect those they love? Or will everyone they love be lost?

Opinion: 4.0 – a different style of magic and dragons

Rating: This was an interesting book. It took me a little bit to get into the book, but I ended up really enjoying it. The authors did a great job of setting up the first book for a series. The set up was great at world building without overwhelming the reader. I liked the fact that there were different kinds of magic and different strengths of magic users. I also liked the fact that dragons aren’t entirely tame. They picked the humans they wanted to ride them. I found it interesting that the dragon’s amplified their bonded human’s power. There was also interesting that wording of spells came into play. I liked that meanings of words and phrases came into play with the spell that created the duel. Could certain things happen or not happen based on certain phrases in the spell? The authors did a great job writing the characters. Everyone seemed well written with their own personalities and motivations. They did a great job making the reader dislike the ‘bad guys’ and making the true bad guys a little more secretive. The few things I wish there’d been a little more details about the blooded magic and there’d been a few more hints at other worlds in the book. The subtle hints at politics were annoying, but I understand it why the authors did it. But overall, I really did enjoy this book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves magic and dragons.

Poppy War Trilogy – R. F. Kuang

Trigger warning: book 1 talks in depth about war crimes and what soldiers did to the people they concurred, men and women.

Titles: Book 1 – The Poppy War, Book 2 – The Dragon Empire, Book 3 – The Burning God

Author: R. F. Kuang

Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Plot: 1 – Rin is bound and determined to make a better life for herself. She was taken in as a war orphan by a cruel family in Tarkany, a poor southern city. There is one way for Rin to escape her life, the Keju. It’s a test to determine which school you can enter and make a better life. Rin finds a tutor and begs him to teach her. The tutor reluctantly agrees. Somehow, Rin finds out she aced the test and can attend Sineguard, the most elite military academy in the Nikara. There, she finds only more discrimination, as the only poor student from the south. She uses her cunning and ingenuity to find ways around the discrimination. While at school, the threat of the enemy Mungenese Empire across the sea is growing. When Rin shows an unusual talent, Master Jiang takes Rin under his wing. Rin starts to learn how to use her new talents, and starts to become a shaman. Then the war begins and Rin and her schoolmates are called to fight. Can Rin harness her newfound powers in time? Or will her powers and enemies get the best of her?

2 – Thanks to Rin, the Mungenese Empire has been almost completely destroyed. Most people are upset with how Rin handled things at the end of the war. But the Dragon Warlord, Yin Vaisra, sees potential in her. He seems like the best teacher for Rin. And he needs her help to unite Nikara under him. Which doesn’t help her issues with poppy addiction and her fight to control her powers with the Phoenix god. To top it off, they find Daji, the former empress. Can she be trusted? Does the Dragon Warlord really have the country’s best interests at heart? Will Rin ever be able to completely control her powers?

3 – Rin has become a legend and an almost god to the people of the southern part of Nikara. She has decided that she wants a better life for the entire country, not just the north. Which leads to her disillusionment with the Dragon Warlord. She abandons him and returns to southern Nikara. The south has been ravaged. Rin must find a way to unite the south and raise an army. Her new ragtag army is slow to gain traction. All of her ideas come up short. All of her allies end up dying or abandoning her as well. All this while the Dragon Warlord has allied with the new enemy, the Hesparians. These new enemies have much more advanced weaponry and airships to better fight the southern army. Rin despises them as they think the Nikarans, her people, are lesser in every way. She wants them all destroyed. She’ll stop at nothing to rid the world of them. Rin finally finds a way to defeat all of her enemies. But can she actually accomplish all of her goals? Or will her enemies overwhelm her and her army?

Rating: 3.5 – a detailed historical fantasy

Opinion: I had high hopes for this trilogy. I’d heard so many good things about these books online. While the trilogy was good, just not as good of all of the hype. I almost gave up after the first one. There was so much world building and politics and history of the world, that I got frustrated with the lack of plot. While the politics and history was important to the story, I feel like it could’ve been spread out more in the first book. Though, it got better after the first half of the first book, it still wasn’t amazing. It was good enough for me to keep reading it. It had a harder time keeping my interest because of all of the politics and drama between the characters. I kept reading because I wanted to see if Rin and her allies could actually overthrow the governments. I always love a good underdog story. But the characters couldn’t catch a break. The betrayals got a little repetitive for me. Luckily the characters do learn lessons with the mistakes they make, while becoming a little more paranoid along the way. I really enjoyed seeing the parallels with real world history and the fantasy world the author created. I did like that the author added the hardships that happen after characters overthrow the evil governments. I’m glad the characters still struggled after achieving all of their goals. While I’m okay with the trilogy aspect, I feel like this trilogy would’ve been better with shorter books. Keep all of the story, but break it up into smaller books. Maybe I would’ve liked it more. While I liked the ideas in the book and wanted the best for the characters, it wasn’t an amazing trilogy. I really wanted to love the series, but there was too much politics and betrayals for me to really enjoy the books. I’d recommend for those who enjoy historical fantasies with lots of world building, history, and don’t mind politics.

I Was Anastasia – Ariel Lawhon

Title: I was Anastasia

Author: Ariel Lawhon

Narrators: Jane Collingwood, Sion Thomas, Ariel Lawhon read her intro and author’s note

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Tsarivna Anastasia is the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicolas II. The Russian revolution has begun. Anastasia, her three sisters and brother Alexi, and her parents are sentenced to house arrest at first. Her family is forced to label and take care of the grounds by the soldiers enforcing their arrest. The soldiers have eyes for her older sisters, especially Olga. But they bide their time. As the revolution escalates, the family is moved to an abandoned governor’s house in Siberia. Again the family is forced to work and take care of the house and grounds. The family manages to find ways to hide things from the guards. The guards still let them have sense of normalcy for the time, school for the children and family reading time at the end of the day. Then a new revolution starts up with new people in charge. The new soldiers are harsher. They allow the family less and less freedom. Until the family is separated. The Tsar and his wife are sent to prison with Anastasia’s sister, Maria. They’re treated well until Anastasia, Alexi, and two sisters are asked to meet their parents. On the train they’re not treated well. Will Anastasia and her family survive? Or will they all be killed? Or will Anastasia survive like the legends say?

Anna Anderson is a woman who has a striking resemblance to the lost Russian princess, Anastasia. That’s what most of the world believes. There are some who are unconvinced. Anna tries her best to prove that she is the lost Russian princess. There is a fair amount of evidence that says she could be Anastasia, but there’s also evidence that she is not. Anna is quiet about her past and what happened before she was found in Berlin. She doesn’t want to speak much Russian, which has some people concerned. The more evidence both sides collect, the greater the divide between people who believe, and those who don’t. Anna continues to let people believe what they want to believe. She plays along and lets people take care of her as long as they want to. Until they get annoyed with her lack of answers and behavior. Then she’s shuffled off to someone else. But is Anna really the lost princess, Anastasia? Or is she a fake? Either way, why did she go through all of these charades?

Opinion: 4.0 – a great retelling of story of Anastasia

Rating: I really enjoyed listening to this book. Both the narrators, one for Anna and one for Anastasia, did an excellent job. They made each character’s voice unique. It made it easy to remember who was who. There were so many of them to keep track of. So the different voices were amazing. The history of both stories was incredible. The author clearly did her research. Though some parts of the story felt embellished. In the chaos of the times, it’s hard to find accurate information to what really happened. The characters felt well written. Along with the different character voices, they each felt well written and well developed. Everyone has their own development and growth. When hard things happened to the characters, the author did a good job how it affected different characters and how they related to each other. The author did a good job writing one character going forward in time, and the other character going back in time. The book started with the end of one character’s story, and the beginning of the other’s. I was wondering if the author would write the historically accurate ending, or the happy ending of the legend of Anastasia. I was happy with the ending and how the author explained why she chose that ending. Overall, I really liked this book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves historical fiction.