A Bookworm's Book Reviews

The Queen of the Valley – Lorena Hughes

This is the sequel for The Spanish Queen

Title: The Queen of the Valley

Author: Lorena Hughes

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Martin Sabater is now the proud owner of a cacao plantation in the Valle del Cauca in 1920’s Colombia. To show off his lifelong dream come true, he’s hosting a gala. That night, he goes missing. His good friend, Purificación, Puri for short, was a good friend of Martin. She’s worried something’s happened to him since she hasn’t heard from him in months. Puri poses as a novice nun in the church and hospital that’s cropped up in place of Martin’s cacao planation to see what happened to him. Lucas Ferreira is a close friend of Martin. He was at the gala as the photographer. Puri also suspects that Lucas knows more than he’s letting on. Slowly, she convinces him to help. They talk with the families that run the church and hospital, Farid and his wife Amira have come to own the cacao planation turned hospital suspiciously easy after Martin’s disappearance. Could it really be them? Or another friend? Will they ever find out what happened to Martin? Or is he really gone?

Rating: 4.0 – an interesting historical fiction mystery

Opinion: This was an interesting book. It took me a little to realize that this was a sequel to the other Lorena Hughes book I read. It made me wish I’d reread the other one again. Though, it was its own story so I wasn’t as confused. It was really its own story with the same characters. I liked that this was a different style of mystery. It was a lot cleaner and happier than the other mysteries I’ve read recently. I liked that the ‘detectives’ weren’t the stereotypical detectives. It was just the people who cared about the missing person who wanted to really know what happened. The one thing I was a little curious about was that they were using IV’s in the 1920’s. I didn’t think they were that common back then. But I looked it up and they were becoming common to use for cholera patients at the time. I also liked that the ending was generally happy. Overall, I really enjoy this book. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes historical fiction and mysteries.

The Empyrean Series – Rebecca Yarros

Titles: Book 1 – Fourth Wing, Book 2 – Iron Flame, Book 3 – Onyx Storm

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: 1 – Violet Sorrengail has just been told she’s no longer training to be a scribe, but a dragon rider. All thanks to her mother, General Sorrengail. No she’s in the fight for her life, literally. Violet fights against the other cadets in the dragon rider war school. Some cadets want vengeance against her for her mother did to their parents after the rebellion. Others are just out for blood. She must also fight others in combat classes, where no one holds back their punches. There’s always the chance she’ll fall to death. Or a dragon will roast her alive if they find her unworthy. Somehow Violet defies all odds and stays alive. Somehow she bonds with a dragon, and not just any dragon, one of the most powerful dragons, Tairn. On top of all of everything, she fights against Xaden, who has his own personal reasons to hate Violet. But they must learn to work together. Can they put aside their differences? Or will it be the death of them?

2 – Violet and Xaden have learned a dark truth about world. Venin exist and they’re more powerful than they thought. And that Navarre leadership isn’t doing anything about it. Xaden and Violet must find a way to save the wards that protect Navarre. They’re failing and even more people could be at risk. Is there a way to save the wards? Can they be repaired? Could they stand against the venin?

3 – The wards are up, but for how long? The venin are coming back, stronger. There might be a way to save the wards. But that means traveling the isles. And taking Violet’s second dragon, Andarna, with her. They’re looking for more of Andarna’s kind of dragon. While they’re looking for allies to turn the tide against the venin. To top everything off, Xaden hasn’t been acting like himself. Can they find more of Andarna’s dragons? Can they make allies? Can the wards be kept on longer? Is there something help Xaden?

Rating: 4 – a different style of magic and dragons

Opinion: This was a great series. The world was well built. I liked that there were different breeds of dragons and each breed acted differently. It was cool that there are tail differences between dragons, too. It was interesting that dragons are terrifying and dangerous. I liked that the dragons pick the humans based on personality traits. For such lengthy books, I liked that the information about the world, characters, and locations are spread out. The author did a great job with military aspects of the book. I liked that the author used her experience as an army brat to help with the military aspects of the books. The romance in the book did feel a little over dramatic at points. Yes, I understand that Xaden’s hot, I don’t need to know that almost every time Violet saw him. They almost seemed a little too dependent on each other by the end, too. Maybe it’s just me reading too much into it, but some of the characters did call them out on it once or twice. I also feel like a few things could’ve been condensed. Overall, this was a great series. I’m curious to see how the story continues. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes romantasy, magic, and dragons.

You Are Special – Max Lucado

Title: You Are Special

Author: Max Lucado

Illustrator: Sergio Martinez

Plot: Punchinello is a Wemmick in the town of Wemmickville. The characters of the town reward each other with golden stickers for being smart, talented, and beautiful or gray stickers if you’re average. Punchinello is covered in gray stickers. Every day he tries hard to get a gold star, but every day he only gets gray stickers. He wanders to Eli’s, the Wemmick maker, house. Eli explains the real values of the Wemmicks and how all the Wemmicks are special.

Rating: 4.3 – a cute story about how everyone is special in their own way

Opinion: This is such a cute story. It’s a great reminder for kids, and the adults reading it, that they are unique. I like that the book talks about the fact that it can be easy to compare yourself to others, and that comparison is the thief of joy. I also liked that the book talks about finding someone to talk to about things. It’s good to find someone to explain things and remind you of your worth. The pictures in this book are incredible. They really lend themselves to the story. I highly recommend this book for anyone with children.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Title: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Author: Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Illustrator: Lois Elhert

Genre: Children’s Book, Picture Book

Plot: A simple, rhyme like story about the lower case letters climbing up a tree. All of the letters are too much for the tree so the letters come crashing down. The uppercase letters come to comfort the lowercase letters.

Rating: 4.0 – a memorable kid’s book

Opinion: I remember my parents reading this book to me when I was a kid. I’d forgotten it until I saw it again at the daycare I work at. After all those years, I could still remember some of the lines from the book. The kids found it funny when the letters did something silly or had a funny injury. It’s an easy and entertaining way to teach the kids the alphabet outside of the ABC’s. The pictures are simple but fun. They’re bright and easy to identify the letters. I’d recommend it for anyone who’s got little kids.

Giraffes Can’t Dance – Giles Andreae

Title: Giraffes Can’t Dance

Author: Giles Andreae

Illustrator: Guy Parker-Rees

Genre: Picture Book

Plot: Gerald the giraffe can’t dance. No matter how many times he tries, he’s always tripping over his two left feet. The other animals laugh at him. Gerald runs away. He finds a friend who tries to encourage him. Will Gerald take his advice? Can he learn how to dance? What will the other animals think?

Rating: 4.5 – a sweet story about being yourself

Opinion: This is such a cute book. It’s a great lesson about being yourself and being different. It says it’s okay to dance to your own beat. It may take some time, but you can learn to dance. It may not be the same as everyone else, but be yourself. It’s okay to be different. I like that the book acknowledges that others might laugh at you. It’s okay to cry but to keep trying. Find someone to encourage you and teach you. The pictures in the book are well drawn. There are lots of bright colors. Overall, I’d recommend this book for anyone who’s got little kids.

Stand a Little Out of My Sun – Angelyn Christy Voss

Title: Stand a Little Out of My Sun

Author: Angelyn Christ Voss

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Plot: Sophie is the granddaughter of Greek immigrants in the 50’s. Her brother Niko has started helping their not Greek father, Tom, fixing cars and radios. Niko is a quick learner who adores his father. Sophie has seen the darker side of her father and doesn’t approve of Niko being around their father so much. Their father doesn’t approve of the family’s Greek traditions. Their mother’s, Christine, parents haven’t been as supportive of her decision to marry a non Greek. He’s also a part of some shady business that he’s super secretive and protective over. Christine has tried so hard to bring back the man she fell in love with. Can the family become united again? Will Christine’s parents ever fully accept Tom? Or will a tragedy drive them all apart?

Rating: 4.5 – a sweet story of a family’s road to forgiveness

Opinion: This was a super sweet book. I always love a story about families coming together. Though this time the reason wasn’t the happiest. I like how the author made the road to redemption take time. It took a different amount of time for different people. That made the book more believable. The book was more relatable to me because I work with a kid named Niko. The Niko I work with has a similar personality to the Niko in the book. This made what happened in the book all the more relatable. I teared up at certain parts of the book, which doesn’t happen when I read books that focus on people. When I told the real Niko about the book, he was very happy that I was reading a ‘Niko book.’ A lot of things happened at the end of the book, it felt a little different pacing from the rest of the book. But everything was wrapped up nicely. A fun little fact was that I won this book at an auction for a local mental health organization. An author from Corvallis donated it. Overall, this was a super sweet book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves a family’s road to forgiveness.

Our Infinite Fates – Laura Steven

Title: Our Infinite Fates

Author: Laura Steven

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Arden and Evelyn have lived numerous lives, literally. Every life they find each other and fall in love. But their lives are always cut short. One of them kills the other just before their eighteenth birthday. There’s always some otherworldly creature following Arden and Evelyn through every life. With their most recent life, Evelyn’s not sure she wants to leave it. She’s got a wonderful family and friends. She starts to find away to stay in this life. Then Arden finds her. Their countdown to eighteen begins. Can Evelyn go through with her plan? Is there truly a way to live past her eighteenth birthday? Or will the creature following them catch them?

Rating: 3.5 – an interesting love through lifetimes story

Opinion: This was an interesting book. I’ve always liked the idea of immortality and finding love. I liked how the author played with these ideas. Though I wish the plot had been developed more. It kind of felt like it was slow and steady plot, then ‘bam’ everything happened in the last one hundred pages. I do agree with some other reviews that said the plot twist came out of nowhere. I wish the author had built up to it a little more, or hinted at it a little more through out the book. Some plot twists I enjoy, this one I didn’t love. It didn’t seem to fit in with the story. It would’ve been more believable if some of the other plot points had been woven in better earlier. I enjoyed reading about the characters past lives, but I wish I could’ve learned more about their past other than how they met and fell in love and the occasional plot development. There are some LGBTQ themes in the book. I was curious about the explanation of nonbinary of the book, so I asked someone I knew who’s nonbinary. The explanation made sense to me but I curious to see if that was a great explanation from someone who’s nonbinary. They said it was a basic explanation, but a good one, especially for someone who doesn’t really understand what being nonbinary means. Overall, this was a cute book. I just wish it’d been a little more developed. I’d recommend this book for anyone who wants a sappy, love over lifetimes fantasy.

The God of the Woods – Liz More

Title: The God of the Woods

Author: Liz More

Genre: Mystery

Plot: Louise is a camp counselor in the Adirondacks and has just discovered that one of her campers, Barbara is missing. The problem is that Barbra is the daughter of the camp’s owners, the Van Laars. When the police arrive, Louise is questioned and detained. Louise is adamant that she’s been framed by John Paul MacMillan, a family friend of the Van Laars. Investigator Judyta (Judy for short) Luptack is on the case. Her focus is more on finding Barbara, while her mentor focuses more on Louise’s case. To make things worse, this is not the first disappearance at the camp. The Van Laar’s son, Paul III (nicknamed Bear), disappeared 15 years prior. A local man was blamed. Not everyone’s sure he did it. When other similar things start to happen around the camp, Judy looks into old leads. But will she find what she’s looking for? Are the Van Laar’s connected to the disappearances? Was it a family friend? Or someone else? Can Barbara be found? What really happened to Bear Van Laar?

Rating: 4.0 – a good summer camp mystery

Opinion: This was an interesting book. It took me a little to get into the book. There were a lot of characters introduced at the beginning. It took me a little bit to remember everyone. There were also a lot of time and character jumps, but the author did a good job of telling who the chapter was following and when it was taking place. The characters were well written and believable. Though most of them seemed a little too stoic. Most of the book seemed pretty believable. The plot twist was a little out of the blue. It didn’t seemed to connect to the story as much as it should have. Overall, this was a good, slow and steady book. I recommend for any who loves mysteries

The Road of Bones – Demi Winters

Title: The Road of Bones

Author: Demi Winters

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Silla is a young woman who’s always moved around. She’s not sure why. Then soldiers demand to see and her father. Her father refuses to go. He’s killed and Silla is forced to flee for her life. She stows away in a wagon until the soldiers go past. Then the owners of the wagon return. Silla tells them what they want to hear in order to save her life. Rey, the leader of the group, Bloodaxe Crew, agrees to take her to a nearby city while trying to achieve their own goals. Though Silla tries her best to keep everyone at arm’s length, she starts warming up to everyone. She becomes closest with Helka and Jonas. Helka offers motherly affection while Jonas offers companionship. But can Silla completely trust them? Can they completely trust Silla? Will the soldiers find Silla? Can they keep her captive? Or will the Bloodaxe Crew keep them safe? Or die trying?

Rating: 3.5 – a different style of magic and mythology

Opinion: This was an interesting book. The world the author built was interesting. Though I wish she’d developed it more. I liked the ideas she started with but wanted to know more about the world. It felt like there was a prequel I missed out on. Like I should’ve known the world already. I liked this kind of magic in the book. There were different kinds of magic. Magic users needed to learn how to use their magic. Not all magic users had the same types of magic. And not everyone had magic. Again, I wish it was a little more developed. I wanted to know more about how the magic worked and the limits of it. I wanted to know why more people didn’t like magic users and why they were hunted. I wished the author would’ve focused more on those things instead of the romantic plot line. I feel like she could’ve done so much with the plot and world if she hadn’t focused so much on the romance. I wanted to know more about the Bloodaxe Crew’s task before they found Silla. I wanted to know more about the magic and creatures in the world. I’m all for a good roman-tasy book but I feel like it focused too much on the romance and not enough on the fantasy. There are other books in the series, but I’m not sure about it because I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I wanted to. I wanted to know more about the characters, not just Silla and Jonas’s relationship. I feel like they could’ve been developed a little better. Overall, this was an interesting book, just not one of my favorites. I’d recommend to someone who likes a romance heavy fantasy book.

Someone Else’s Shoes – Jojo Moyes

Title: Someone Else’s Shoes

Author: Jojo Moyes

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Plot: Nisha Cantor is the wife of a wealthy businessman, Carl Cantor. She knows what she wants out of life and isn’t afraid to speak her mind, even if it pisses everyone else off. Out of the blue, Carl cuts her off and locks her out of the penthouse they’re staying in. To make matters worse, she’s just lost her favorite outfit, along with her favorite shoes. In a random coincidence, she’s accidentally switched gym bags with another woman, Sam Kemp. Sam Kemp is an average middle class woman trying to keep her family afloat while working at a job she hates. No they must find a way to get their bags and their lives back. Everything seems to be against them. Their gym closes, Sam’s at risk of losing her job. Nisha needs to find a way to meet ends meet. Nisha’s shoes keep disappearing. Can Nisha find her shoes? Can both women learn to work together? Or will their past catch up to them?

Rating: 3.7 – a good book about learning to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes

Opinion: This was an interesting book. I wasn’t sure I’d like it at first. Nisha bugged me a lot. Her personality grated me, especially at the beginning. But I think that was the point. I’m glad she was able to see life from a different point of view by the end of the book. I figured Nisha would do something like what she did at the end of the book. But I found it interesting that the book acknowledges that people change, but not everyone changes that much. Most of the other characters do just that. They change for the better, but stay true to the core of their characters. I feel like some of the theatrics of the book could’ve been cut out. Though the main characters solutions to their problems was very clever. It made it felt like an Ocean’s 11 theme, except with a few more things going wrong in a funny way. Overall, this was a good, enjoyable book. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys realistic fiction books.