Tag: bookstagrammer

Book Review, Fiction

Adelaide by Geneveive Wheeler ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction
Read if you liked: Really Good, Actually

I saw Adelaide hyped allll over bookstagram and I have to say I don’t quite get it. I was pretty much infuriated at the main character during the entire book as she consistently poured her soul into a man who couldn’t care less about her. I understand that this was a depiction of an experience that happens all too often and Wheeler did an incredible job of depicting the internal gymnastics Adelaide performs to justify staying with Rory Hughes.

If the intent of this book was to explore a toxic relationship in excruciating detail, it succeeded. However, it also kept hinting at something huge and drastic happening that would completely rattle everyone. When this actually happened it seemed to lead to more of the same behaviors just a bit more acutely. I felt like I’d been holding my breath for no reason.

If you’re down for a book that interrogates the decisions we make to try to cling to a love that may not exist, this one’s for you. Writing that is able to make me feel so consistently uncomfortable is impressive in itself. That said, it’s a pretty long time to be reading about the same actions over and over again.

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

Book Review, Fiction, Magical Realism

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Magical Realism
Similar to: T.J. Klune

The Wishing Game is kind of a literary spin on Willie Wonka. Jack Masterson, author of the children’s Clock Island series, invites four contestants to his home on Clock Island to compete for the single copy of his new manuscript. As a child, each contestant ran away to Clock Island in an attempt to meet one of the series’ main characters, who they believed could grant their wishes and help them escape from hardships in their lives.

Lucy, our main character, fell in love with the Clock Island series as a child and has shared that love with the children she teaches as an adult. In particular, she has shared their magic with Christopher, an orphan who she wants nothing more than to foster. Her financial circumstances make this an impossibility, but if she’s able to win Jack’s contest, it could change everything.

I loved how whimsical this book was. Jack is so eccentric and fun and I loved the way he was balanced out by the grumpy illustrator living on the island with him. The premise of the contest added an element of thrill to the story, as the contestants had no idea what to expect next. I loved that despite the fact that they were competing, the four of them were supportive of one another and understanding of the paths that led them each there.

Overall, this was such a heartwarming, feel-good story. Despite the heavy topics it delves into surrounding each character’s past, it ended on a high note and leaves everyone in the story believing that wishes can come true.

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

Book Review, Fiction

Everyone in this Room will Someday be Dead by Emily Austin ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction
Similar to: Really Good, Actually

This book is like anxiety incarnate. It is semi-stream of consciousness of 28-year old Gilda who accidentally ends up with a job at a Catholic church where she hides the fact that she is atheist and a lesbian. Her thoughts constantly whirl around death and worst-case scenarios and she has trouble understanding how her actions affect other people.

I found Gilda’s perspective fascinating (and sometimes relatable) and the format of her thoughts was very unlike many of the books I tend to read. The speed at which her thoughts spiraled kept me going.

Gilda’s internal activity makes up a lot of the book, but I found everything else to be unremarkable. There was nothing to invest me in the plot outside of her head, which made it hard to care about what was happening in her life.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead at an indie bookstore near you
Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Historical Fiction

The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner ~ Book review

Morgan

Historical Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪

The London Séance Society takes place in 1870s Europe and focuses on the spiritualists who abounded at the time. Lenna Wickes agrees to take up an apprenticeship with renowned spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire in an effort to get clarity about her sister’s death. The two are summoned to investigate the death of one of the members of the London Séance Society and soon find themselves questioning what to believe.

I felt totally immersed in the setting of this story, as expected from a Sarah Penner book. Both the location and the time period were depicted in a way that made me innately understand how the story took place within their context. It was atmospheric and totally drew me in.

Lenna’s skepticism made her an interesting narrator and I was eager to uncover with her what parts of the spiritualism she was learning about were real and how it all tied into her sister’s death. The second narrator, Mr. Morley of the London Séance Society was less compelling and I found his sections a bit dry.

As intriguing as I found the premise of this story, it felt more drawn out than it needed to be. If it had been tightened up a bit, I think I would have been more intrigued, but I was growing kind of tired of the mystery as it went on.

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

Book Review, Romance

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn ~ Book Review

Morgan

Romance
My Rating: 🍪🍪

When Georgie loses her fast-paced personal assistant job in LA, she goes back to her small hometown, where her best friend is expecting a baby, and settles in to reassess her life. Feeling unmoored in her new circumstances, Georgie is drawn to a diary she wrote in high school, outlining all the things she wanted to accomplish during that time in her life. The simplicity of each goal makes Georgie decide to pick it up where she left off and so she finds herself on a series of mini adventures as she tries to figure herself out. Along the way, Georgie finds an unexpected comrade in former bad boy Levi, the brother of her childhood crush.

The premise of Georgie’s confusion about what to do next with her life and trying to rediscover it through the lens of her past self was really unusual and intriguing. Unfortunately, the book was so slow and repetitive that I could not enjoy it. I felt like the same scenes were playing over and over on loop and I knew what they were all leading to miles in advance.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Georgie, All Along at an indie bookstore near you
Georgie, All Along on Goodreads