Tag: baker blog

Book Review, Fiction

Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore ~ Book Review

Morgan

Mystery
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

What a wacky enjoyable read this was – especially over audio. A decade after the disappearance of acclaimed magician Violet Volk, podcast host Cameron is desperate to secure an interview with Violet’s sister, Sasha. Sasha was left to pick up the pieces after her sister vanished, and has done her best to distance herself from Violet in the ensuing years. This feat is made all the more difficult by Sasha’s daughter Quinn who is very much still enamored by the aunt who vanished.

The book focuses mainly on the ten-year anniversary and the news articles, events, and of course, podcasts that discuss Violet. The audiobook included a number of different narrators, one for each medium, which made this so much fun to listen to. It really was like listening to an elongated podcast most of the time.

Although the mystery of what happened to Violet is central to the story, this was much more a character study of her and Sasha. It included flashbacks showing how Violet’s rise to fame impacted them both and showed the dark sides to Violet that were hidden to her adoring fans.

The story definitely requires you to suspend reality throughout, but especially at the end. I’ll admit, the ending didn’t do the rest of the story justice for me, but the book had Montimore’s signature quirk and was truly fun to listen to.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Acts of Violet on Goodreads
Buy Acts of Violet at an indie bookstore near you

Book Review, Fantasy, Romance

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling ~ Book Review

Morgan

Avon Books
Romance/Fantasy
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

The Ex Hex is a cute, spooky fall romance that checked a lot of boxes, but never invested me past surface level. When Vivi’s ex, Rhys, breaks up with her, she and her best friend pretend to place a curse on him in an amusing scented-candle-and-alcohol-induced act of defiance. Upon his return to the town of Graves Glen nine years later, Vivi begins to worry that what was meant to be a joke may have done more harm than she intended.

This is a perfect book to read in the fall. The small town charm is wonderfully done, and their obsession with Halloween made for the ideal witchy atmosphere. The romance is steamy and the chemistry between Vivi and Rhys was palpable.

The actual plot? Honestly, not much happened. The ‘action’ felt pretty draggy for me, and I enjoyed meeting the characters and the world-building in the first half of the book much more than the actual plot later on.

A+ vibes, C+ plot.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Ex Hex at an indie bookstore near you
The Ex Hex on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Historical Fiction

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee ~ Book Review

Morgan

Grand Central Publishing
Historical Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

I’m not a big historical fiction reader, so I don’t know if this is uncommon for this kind of book, but I was blown away by the sheer breadth that Pachinko covered. It starts with young Sunja follows her and her family for generations. It did a fantastic job of showing how her choices and the choices of those around her informed the generations that came after her.

This story focuses heavily on tensions between Korea and Japan and how Sunja’s Korean family is treated in Japan. There is an incredible amount of history and historical commentary, but it is woven seamlessly into the characters’ lives.

This is a long sprawling book, and I do feel that I got to know the characters in the beginning much better than those later on. The ending felt a bit rushed in comparison, and I wished these had been a bit more balanced. I got a little confused about who was who toward the end.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Pachinko at an indie bookstore near you
Pachinko on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey ~ Book Review

Morgan

Avon Books
Romance
Release Date: March 1, 2022
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

I loved It Happened One Summer and was excited for another light, steamy story in the Bellinger Sisters’ universe. I really enjoy the small fishing town of Westport and the tight knit community it fosters, so I was thrilled when Hannah ended up there for work. She decides to crash with Fox Thornton while she’s there, a notorious flirt who she has befriended, largely over text, since her last visit.

The build up of Fox and Hannah’s relationship and their individual concern about ruining their friendship felt realistic to me and kept me on my toes. I couldn’t wait for them to finally get together. I did think there were some very dramatic hot and cold situations, but that feels like more a product of the genre than this specific story.

I really enjoyed getting to delve into Hannah’s work life and her career aspirations and how prominently that played into her storyline and her motivations. This added a lot more to her character and I liked seeing how Fox supported her.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Hook, Line, and Sinker at an indie bookstore near you
Hook, Line, and Sinker on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, mystery, thriller

The Shadow House by Anna Downes ~ Book Review

Morgan

Minotaur Books
Mystery
Release Date: April 5, 2022 (Thank you to NetGalley for my copy!)
My Rating: 🍪🍪

The Shadow House follows Alex as she and her two children move into a new community called Pine Ridge. It’s clear that Alex is running from something as she tries to placate her teenage son about the necessity of another move.

Upon their arrival, Alex finds a box on their doorstep with a dead bird in it. Several days later, a similar box with a disturbing doll arrives. As Alex learns more about the land the community was built on, she begins to worry that there may be something sinister afoot.

I was expecting so much more out of this book. All along, I was waiting for a big reveal about Alex’s traumatic past and a big reveal about what was happening at Pine Ridge. I got neither. There was so much build up and suspense and it fell totally flat for me. There were random side plots of Alex getting to know the other residents, which I expected to all tie together, but they seemed to just be tangents that were ultimately hard to keep track of.

Check out my bookstagram: Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Shadow House at an indie bookstore near you
The Shadow House on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

Wahala by Nikki May ~ Book Review

Morgan

Custom House
Fiction
Release Date: January 11, 2022
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

Wahala is the story of Ronke, Boo, and Simi, longtime friends living in London. Simi introduces the others to her friend Isobel, who ricochets into their lives. At first, Isobel seems like a harmless bundle of energy, but as she begins to worm her way into the other ladies’ lives, they begin to find themselves turning against each other.

Each of the main characters has a detailed and believable life, relationships, and backstory. Each woman had a very different personality and way of thinking about life, and they were each dealing with different struggles. Their friendship was believable and I enjoyed learning about Nigerian culture through them.

Some of the choices these characters made, and the way they were so easily influenced and manipulated by Isobel really rubbed me the wrong way. It would seem that after so many years of being friends, they would have had a little more allegiance to the other girls and wouldn’t be so quick to turn on them. Also, the way the drama ramped up and got very dark toward the end was a lot – I wished the book hadn’t been so backloaded.

Buy Wahala at an indie bookstore near you
Wahala on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand ~ Book Review

Morgan

Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Fiction
Release Date: October 9, 2018
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

When a man and a woman are killed in a helicopter crash off a Caribbean island, their loved ones are forced to grapple with what the truth behind their clandestine relationship and what it means for their future. Irene Steele finds herself reeling from the lies her husband was keeping from her. When her sons arrive on the island, they quickly meet and are both enchanted by Ayers, the best friend of their father’s mistress.

In true Elin Hilderbrand fashion, Winter in Paradise is full of never ending drama. The relationships she introduces are complicated and layered with secrets. The setting provided wonderful escapism filled with picturesque tropical outings and adventures.

I felt like the grief that should have permeated this book wasn’t really present. No one seemed quite as upset about the deaths of their loved ones as I would have expected. It seemed weird that the characters were able to focus on pursuing romance and galavanting around the island instead of the deaths that brought them together.

I happily consumed the drama and the tropical beaches in the pages of this book, but I don’t think I liked it enough to read the rest of the series.

Buy Winter in Paradise at an indie bookstore near you
Winter in Paradise on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, mystery, thriller

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead ~ Book Review

Morgan

Sourcebooks Landmark
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: August 3, 2021
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪

And I’m back again, with yet another ‘murder at a bougie prep school’ thriller review. This is a favorite sub-genre of mine, so I had high hopes going into it. Right away, we meet our squad of six, now grown up, ex-best friends who also double as our murder suspects.

As the group reunites at their high school reunion, Jessica Miller wants nothing more than to make a splash and have people finally recognize her success and potential. Instead, the six of them find themselves being forced to relive the night in high school when the seventh member of their squad, Heather, was stabbed to death.

The dual-narrative of this plot made it nearly impossible to put down, with one timeline chronicling the friends’ high school experiences, and the other in the present as they are forced to relive the days and weeks leading up to Heather’s murder.

Having six main characters was a bold move, and I found it difficult to keep track of everyone. Especially at the beginning, the nicknames and the intertwined romantic and platonic relationships were very hard to follow. This kept me from staying as immersed in the story as I would have liked.

Overall, this was a fast, riveting thriller and the deeply layered character motivations made it stand out from other similarly structured books.

Buy In My Dreams I Hold a Knife at an indie bookstore near you
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, mystery, thriller

The Stranger in the Mirror by Liv Constantine ~ Book Review

Morgan

Harper
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: July 6, 2021
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

Addison has only three years of memories. Everything about her life before she was found by the side of the road is gone. Despite this constant uncertainty and unease, she’s made a new life for herself and recently became engaged. Her chapters were interspersed with those of Julian, whose wife Cassandra disappeared several years earlier, leaving him alone with their daughter. This was a pretty standard thriller setup, but I was excited to see what fresh approach the author duo had thought up.

I was pretty riveted to the first two thirds of this book trying to figure out how Cassandra and Addison’s stories would coincide. As Addison’s future mother-in-law looks into her past, and Julian continues his hunt for his wife, I couldn’t wait for the inevitable shakeup.

The truth, unfortunately, felt pretty gimmicky to me. It was so far-fetched that I had trouble seeing it as a viable and creepy conclusion. Instead, I felt much less captivated by the remainder of the story. The premise and buildup were incredibly well done, and I wished there had been more of a shocking “AHA” moment that kept me hooked for the remainder of it.

Buy The Stranger in the Mirror at an indie bookstore near you
The Stranger in the Mirror on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Science Fiction

Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey ~ Book Review

Morgan

William Morrow
Genre: Science fiction
Release Date: April 27, 2021
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5

This book reminded me a lottt of The Midnight Library. It asks the reader to suspend reality and engage in Thora and Santi’s constantly intertwining multiple lives. From their first brief meeting, the two have a connection, but it’s cut short by an untimely accident. When they next meet, in another life, they have more time together to connect. And so it goes, lifetime after lifetime. They meet as friends, lovers, teacher and student, father and daughter.

I couldn’t decide how I felt about the multiple lifetimes. I like a story that builds on itself, and I felt like I would just be getting into a storyline when the entire thing would change as another life began. That being said, each different narrative was beautifully written and whatever kind of relationship they had was intricate and touching.

Things change in the later part of the book as they begin to come to terms with their situation and try to figure out what’s really going on. From there, it took on a little bit of a thriller feel and I was just as invested as them in uncovering the truth. Their ultimate discovery shocked me and I loved how the entire story up until then was suddenly revealed in a totally different light.

Meet Me in Another Life is conceptually fascinating, and although a bit slow in the middle, I would highly recommend holding out for the ending.

Buy Meet Me in Another Life at an indie bookstore near you
Meet Me in Another Life on Goodreads