Watching the Weather

It's been sitting in my mind since the holiday weekend started and I just have to put something here to see if I can get it out of my head.

I'm here in the heart of Texas, probably less than an hour south of where the devastating floods have hit with the Guadalupe River. My area has just had weather update changed to a Flood Watch until 7pm on Monday. I'm telling my husband in the morning that in the abundance of caution, I'd prefer that he avoid going in to the office for work this week until all the rain passes. I'm looking up what kind of life vests are the best and where I can get them for my babies. I'm working out what to pack in a flood emergency kit.

I can't control the weather but I can be prepared should the worst come. My oldest is going to be 3 this year, my youngest will be 1. I want them to be safe. I told my husband I'd die saving them if it came to that so if life vests and emergency kits and evacuation plans and knowing which roads to take will help, I'll do all the research and be ready.

Too many are gone because of something simple like rain. We've gone from droughts and water restrictions to buidlings and people being washed away. It's too much.

My thoughts and prayers are with the people who have lost someone or who are still searching. May they all be found.

Stay safe out there, people. Make good choices, think things through. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Book Review: The Fall of Linda Waters by R.E. Kurz

My thanks to Netgalley, Soncata Press and R.E. Kurz for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

I've never read a story about Jack Frost before. I know the general idea but I can honestly say that I do not seek out any book, show or movie that has had Jack Frost as a character. I don't know why, you'd think it'd be right up there with things that interest me and yet no, I've never sought out Jack Frost. So this book caught my attention because it sounded intriguing enough that I thought, first time for everything, why not?

This book follows the Linda Waters from the title, a high school student in Maine who is mourning the loss of her best friend. She meets a new student at school who turns out to be Jack Frost. Frost is in this particular small town and attending high school because he's trying to find a book that could be used to destroy everything about existence. Linda and Jack have to work together to find the book and the one who wants to use it for revenge.

First off, I liked this book. I didn't love it BUT I certainly liked it. I'll admit, I almost decided not to finish this story but I liked Linda so I stuck it out. Also, I learned things I've never heard of before, in the sense that I didn't know the correct names to things, like how the pigments in leaves are anthocyanin and carotenoid, or the term "blue field entoptic phenomenon" (look it up; I had to, and now I've learned something new). Little things like this made Kurz intriguing to me as a writer. I didn't think a high school student would necessarily know these things though, and I wished it was weaved into the story more about how Linda knew these things so easily. It would have rounded the character out more.

As is, I liked Linda because she tried. Every day was a day where she had to try. She had to try to get through school with horrible classmates, she had to try to help teachers she liked, she had to try to get through the days while grieving her best friend who died in a horrible accident. It was that attitude of getting through the worst that made me want to stick with Linda. Jack Frost was interesting in the sense that he was able to be the friend Linda needed when she needed something to help her. He was a stable presence and a constant for her to depend on while also becoming a bit of a defender for other students in need. I liked Lavender and Mr. London but I feel like the book didn't spend as much time with them as it could have to make their struggles feel more important to the reader.

I hated how Lavender was treated but at the same time, because Lavender wasn't necessarily the main character, her struggles felt like they were just there. The book doesn't have enough resolution to her issues at school so I feel like I don't get to see her end up in a good place. Same thing with Mr. London, there were things set in place to suggest happier times to come but again, the book moves on so readers are left wondering about their outcomes. I wanted more for them and I didn't get to see it.

The book is written as 3rd person omniscient, so readers see things from several character viewpoints as the story needs it to go. However, my main issue was with the PACING. Every chapter seems to stand as its own little story, almost as if they don't tie together as a whole. Things would happen in a chapter and then just continue on to something else in the next, without flowing together. As a result, the plot didn't feel like it was important enough as a driving point for the book. It felt like every chapter was Jack and Linda at school, dealing with obnoxious classmates and homework, helping Jack understand the nuances to human existence and whatnot, and it took a while for the search for the missing book to even become relevant. I wasn't sure how much time was passing and because of that, it felt like the characters relationships weren't developing as they should. When Lavender was added to the story, it felt a little jarring to see her demand answers from Jack and Linda when she felt excluded because she wasn't on the page enough with them. The same thing happened with Mr. London, where it felt like for the relationship to be what it seemed on the page, we needed to see more of it. Almost as if passages had been left out that needed to be seen to help the flow of the story stay on track and to show how the characters all interact with each other.

Also, it just ENDS. That's it, there's nothing else. I kept flipping pages thinking where's the rest of the book? It finished up in a few pages and for the length it took to get there, it felt like not enough of an ending. I always say that I wanted more at the end of the books I read but in this case, it NEEDED more. I still have questions about plot points that were never answered. I don't know if the plan is to write more in this world but for me, a lot is left unresolved so I'm left sitting here a little bereft, if I'm being honest. Not the best way to leave a book, when all is said and done.

Rating on my scale: 6 Stars. I wanted more. The book kind of feels unfinished in a way. It'll probably sit in the back of my mind where in the future I might wonder what happened to Linda and her best friend, Jack Frost. I hope they get their happy ending, eventually. That's the feeling I have about the everything of this book.

Book Review: No Body No Crime by Tess Sharpe

My thanks to Netgalley, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Tess Sharpe for the eARC in exchange for a review of this book.

Let it be known, far and wide: I adore mysteries.

When it was available to me for streaming, I used to put Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries on repeat and never get bored. I read and watch almost everything that is somehow Sherlock adjacent, from Enola Holmes to the Mary Russell books, and everything in between. I took a literature class in college called "Detective Fiction and Film" where I read classics about hard-boiled detectives and wrote my final paper on this new movie that was out at that time, Brick, Rian Johnson's directorial debut (I think that's showing my age, now that I look at the year that was released.)

Yes, I'm a fan of some of the major murder mystery shows that have been released in the last 5 years and I have a list of other mystery/thrillers books and movies and shows I still need to try from the last, well, let's say 30 years, just to be on the safe side. I even have those Murdle books, that are just a logic puzzles with murder mysteries attached to each puzzle. If it's somehow, some kind of mystery, I pay attention to it. 

Which is why when I saw the title of this book, No Body No Crime by Tess Sharpe, I knew I had to read it.

This is my first Tess Sharpe book but it won't be my last. I already have copies of The Girls I've Been and The Girl in Question that I've moved up in my TBR towers to get to faster. No Body No Crime follows Mel Tillman, a PI, and Chloe Harper, her high school sweetheart she's been hired to track down after Chloe disappeared 6 years earlier. Mel and Chloe bonded after a night in high school that left a classmate dead and buried. Now that they're reunited, Mel learns that there was more to the story about their classmate and who he worked for, and how those people have kept Chloe on the run since they graduated high school. They have to work together to get the truth out and make it possible for Chloe to finally get to come back home for good.

This is a mystery/thriller with some grit and teeth that can stand perfectly well on its own compared to other thrillers out there. It follows two women who were forced in different ways to become tough and cunning in order to survive. The writing style is fairly to the point, nothing flowery. There are several character point-of-view chapters in addition to Chloe and Mel that help to round out the story. It's a strong voice that helps build each character, filling in parts of everyone through their interactions with other characters. Also because of this book, I'll be smiling at peacocks for the foreseeable future.

The timeline goes back and forth at the start to show what happened in the past when Mel and Chloe were teenagers and in present time, when Mel has finally tracked down where Chloe is currently living off the grid. There are lots of questions at the start that get answered with time and patience. There was one plot point I expected to happen and the build-up and reveal hit the right notes to make it a meaningful part of the book. I honestly waited for this moment, was really hoping it was going to happen, and even if it seemed like an obvious outcome, I still wanted that moment and was happy when it happened. It showed how much I cared for the characters that this moment hit the way it did. Signs of good writing, for sure.

The writing kept me engaged, the reveals worked at keeping me turning the pages to find out what happened next. I liked Mel's attitude and I liked Chloe's determination and I liked how the two of them together made them stronger against the villains of the piece. I look forward to reading more of Tess Sharpe's books as soon as possible. 

Rating on my scale: 9 Stars. I really liked this book. If anything, it felt a bit short. I kind of wanted more time with the characters but I am happy with where they were left.

Book Review: Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher

My thanks to Netgalley, 47North and T. Kingfisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. 

I want to live in T. Kingfisher's brain.

Within reason, course. Preferably where the fairytales live, where I can see where all the magic takes shape and forms into these worlds that Kingfisher lets readers live in for a short time in each of her books.

I've been slowly making my way through Kingfisher's books because each and every time I finish one, I wish there was more to it. I bought several for my Dad and he just started reading What Moves the Dead. I want to give copies to every reader in my family and tell them there are so many more awesome books by Kingfisher, they'll thank me later. I have every book set for release this year already pre-ordered and the one for next March. I'm going to start collecting her children's books so I can have something that I want to read for my kids at bedtime. If that doesn't show how much I admire and enjoy her books, well, then, I'll work on it. There's always room for improvement. 

Snake-Eater follows Selena, who has moved to Quartz Creek in search of a place to stay for a while, hoping to live with her Aunt Amelia. When she arrives with her dog Copper, she discovers that her aunt passed away a year earlier but she's encouraged to check the house over and stay for as long as she needs. Selena feels out of place, certain she can't remain for long but surely it couldn't hurt to make some money and then move on? While Selena and Copper start to settle in, Selena sees something in the garden helping her new plants grow and is suddenly having to accept that Quartz Creek has more than just the usual people she'd expect to live in a small town. There are spirits and gods around the town too, and one has ties to Selena's aunt. Now that she has moved in, it thinks Selena will take over for Ameliabecause they were kin. Selena has to figure out what the spirit wants with the help of the new friends she's made and hope that she can stay in the new home she has found.

Selena felt familiar the moment her inner monologues started. Selena works through conversations in her head, trying to come up with practiced answers for any and every variation of how talking will go in every encounter she has. She worries about if her answers will offend, if she's made her points clear enough, if she's sounding stupid, if she needs to try harder or how she can get out of conversations faster. I've never felt such a kinship to a character before because I do the EXACT SAME THING. I practice what I'll say to cashiers at the stores so I can seem friendly but hopefully not annoying because they've been on their feet for who knows how long. I work out stories in my head to tell for family gatherings so relatives will think I'm well-adjusted and so they won't make comments about my being too "shy" to talk to people when I just want to sit to the side and read a book or watch others while being on my own. When Selena used the word "shy" to describe herself and then went into all the facets of what "shy" was supposed to encompass I thought yes, that's exactly it. "Shy" isn't the right word, but it's the best people can come up with. Don't get me started on the over-analyzing I do when talking is done.

Selena felt like a version of myself in book form and because of that, she was immediately endeared to me. I would take up arms for Selena and for Copper, which is why Grandma Billy and I would get along so well. Grandma Billy is Selena's closest new neighbor, who goes above and beyond to help Selena get settled in her new home, setting up the garden, bringing supplies, introducing her to neighbors and even staying with Selena when spirits start to heckle her. Grandma Billy was tough, sassy, quick to give a helping hand and I LOVED her. Then there was Father Aguirre, the local Catholic priest who helps Selena understand the ins and outs of the town. I thought it'd be difficult to like a priest for a character, but Father Aguirre is no ordinary priest and the fact that he was another character with knowledge of the spirit world around Quartz Creek was surprising and yet, it just worked so well in the long run. Father Aguirre provided the last stable presence needed for the quartet of characters and I wanted to follow them anywhere. They showed Selena that she could be herself, no second guessing her words necessary, and when she needs help figuring out what to do about Snake-Eater, they picked up everything they needed in order to help her.

The world is so interesting. The ideas of how spirits are formed and how they interact with our world was intriguing. The details about the desert and the animals that lived there made everything feel real (the house search for black widows in hidden places when Selena first moved in gave me chills and then made me think, yeah, I've been there). Quartz Creek felt like somewhere I've been, somewhere I've heard of, and somewhere I want to go in the future. If it's at all possible, I hope Kingfisher tries setting up another book in this town. I'd love to learn more about these characters in another adventure. The spirits that are seen, Snake-Eater in particular and others readers eventually find, were detailed and yet vague enough to allow for their existence to seem like something that could have been true once upon a time. Like I said, I want to know more about this world. A sign of a great book in every respect, I assure you.

Rating on my scale: 10 Stars, obviously. I don't think it's possible for me to give anything less to a T. Kingfisher book. I've loved all the ones I've read so much and I look forward to every book to come. Thankfully, I have some of her horror novels to get to. Considering her talent as a writer, I fully expect to end up with some kind of nightmares before I'm finished reading. I'll make sure to have excuses ready for just why I needed to leave a light on at night. And keep my baseball bat by my pillow. And....you get the picture.

Book Review: The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My thanks to Del Ray/Random House Worlds/Inklore and Silvia Moreno-Garcia for an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

There's a thing we do in my family. For some reason, my parents insist on going out instead of staying in for the evening when we are all together. So we all pile into the car and where do we go? A bookstore. Doesn't matter that we all scatter to the four corners of the world inside that bookstore, we are together in a store, and that is apparently enough. Sometimes we go to 3 or 4 bookstores in an afternoon, if they're visiting me, and 2 if I'm visiting my hometown. It was one such visit to a bookstore when I found the jeweled red cover of a book, Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I'd heard of this author, so when I found that book I thought, sure, why not? I've bought every Silvia Moreno-Garcia book since.

I've been looking forward to The Bewitching and this book did not disappoint me. The book follows three separate storylines, Minerva in the 1990s, Betty in the 1930s, and Alba, Minerva's great-grandmother, in the 1900s. Minerva is a graduate student working on a thesis with a focus on the works of Beatrice Tremblay, Betty, who attended the same college that Minerva is enrolled in. Betty is a woman who wrote a novel based on the disappearance of her college roomate, and her storyline recounts the events leading up to that tragic event. Alba's story follows her experience of encountering a witch when she was a young woman and living to tell the tale to Minerva, who sees similarities between her Nana Alba's story and Betty's as she delves into her thesis research at the start of the book. As Minerva works to uncover as much personal information as she can on Beatrice Tremblay, she starts to realize that whatever force went after Tremblay is still at the school and now it is following Minerva. Turns out, the stories her Nana told her might be just what Minerva needs to fight back and figure out what happened to the missing girl before something happens to her.

There is so much in this book. The atmosphere is a bit eerie, the different settings serve to highlight the difference in timelines and the struggles each woman has to deal with, each story has a distinct voice, enough so that they stand apart but meld together. I wouldn't say this is a scary story but while I was reading this book on my phone it started to ring, which was enough to make me jolt and gasp, but the word engrossing is better, I think, to describe the effect this book had on me. I wanted to take my time reading but at the same time I wanted to rush to the ending.

Things felt familiar with the stories about the little spells that Minerva learned from her Nana, and for the things that Alba did as well. My family has roots in Mexico and things like praying over someone with an egg, putting red thread on a baby's forehead to cure hiccups and wearing safety pins during a solar eclipse are just a few of the things that were a part of my childhood. So when Moreno-Garcia put similar ideas in her book, it felt like a story that could be something told in my family. It's connections like these that keep me coming back to read books by Moreno-Garcia. I want to give copies of this to my mom, my sister and my Tía, for that sake alone.

I will say I've read a LOT of mysteries, so I knew the who of the story from nearly the beginning. It was the how and the why that kept me turning pages. I wanted comeuppance and I got that, so the little vindictive bone in my body does not want to hiss and spit at a lack of punishment for the villains of the book. I'm sitting here almost pleased as punch because HA, not laughing now, are they? I especially enjoyed the Afterword by the author at the end, because again, the stories felt familiar and I see a lot of my family in the pages of this book. Also, I have several bracelets and necklaces to ward off the evil eye. It's just what we do in my family and I'll most likely pass it on when the time comes. 

Honestly, every year when it comes time to preorder books, I search to see if Silvia Moreno-Garcia has a new release for the year and then immediately add it to my shelves when it's released. Every book I've read has yet to disappoint me as a reader. I don't see that changing anytime soon. I'm planning to hound my sister into reading this book as soon as I'm finished writing this review. She loved Mexican Gothic and had been trying to get more books by Moreno-Garcia once upon a time. Need her to read this one ASAP. It'll give us something to talk about at night when we both can't sleep.

Rating on my scale: 10 Stars. This book reminds me of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix, The Haunting of Payne's Hollow by Kelley Armstrong and A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. If these books appeal to you as a reader, grab The Bewitching and enjoy.

Book Review: Tea & Alchemy by Sharon Lynn Fisher

My thanks to Netgalley, 47North and Sharon Lynn Fisher for the eARC in exchange for a review of this book.

When I was in college, I had the opportunity to take a class focused on studying vampires in different short stories and books. This book opens with a quote from Polidori's The Vampyre. For those that don't know the background, Polidori was there the night of the contest, the one that gave readers Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It's that background, a dark and dreary estate out in what feels like the middle of nowhere, that helps set the mood and location of this book. This book reminded me of those stories I studied, showing that Fisher did her research and absorbed their influences, using the familiar from those works and creating a new vampire story. Because let's face it, vampires are something that has been around in books, shows and films for ages. This book fits in with other gothic romances but at the same time stands apart, because while I found familiar vampire ideas while reading, I did not expect the changes that Fisher created that made this different from other vampire works.

This book follows Mina Penrose (yes, Mina, Fisher did that and made her vampire a man named Harker. On the nose? Obviously. But I look at it as a nod to those characters, a show of respect for the characters that have come before). The other lead is, as I said before, Harker Tregarrick, a recluse living in a chapel that overlooks the village, whose family land and history has kept rumors swirling about what kind of man would keep himself locked away from the rest of the village. After the death of her parents a few years earlier, Mina has found something for herself to do, work in a tea room while her twin brother, Jack, works in the mines like their father did. At the start of the book, Mina is starting to realize that she can see shapes in the tea leaves left behind in the cups of customers coming throughout the day. Mina can see things in the shapes, recognizing enough that when things happen to those customers of the leaves she's "read", she realizes that she can see things coming for those people before they happen. Mina reads the leaves of one patron, hinting at something bad to come, and then finds a man murdered on her way home. The body is at the edge of the Tregarrick property, which leads Harker to come down from his tower to meet Mina, and the two slowly come to work together to find out how the stories about the Tregarrick family relate to what is now happening in the village.

I really liked Mina. I liked the idea of a young woman taking steps to change her life, getting a job, learning to read, creating more for her life so that she has something to look forward to. Mina's job puts her at odds with her brother, who has been trying to get Mina to give up her job for reasons of his own. I liked the dynamic between the siblings, which made sense in terms of the period and just the way siblings quarrel over many things. Mina has a solid head on her shoulders, logical and curious, which helps her when she meets Harker and starts to work on unraveling the mystery of the story. Harker is given his own chapters to narrate, which help to build up the tragic backstory of a man forced to become a vampire and then choosing to cut himself off from society rather than risk harming anyone he meets. Fisher manages to create two distinct voices in these chapters, separating the points of view perfectly, with each working to elaborate the nuances of Mina and Harker and revealing their histories in an natural way. Nothing felt shoehorned in, nothing was forced. The reveals worked to build sympathy for the characters and created an eerie atmosphere that worked for the mystery at the center of the story.

All the secondary characters were given their chance to shine with Fisher easily making them as detailed as the leads even with the little page time they had. I wanted to wring Jack's neck and I loved the support that Mrs. Moyle gave Mina. I enjoyed their interactions and the build of the story. I liked the familiar gothic setting of the moors and an old village filled with the usual small-minded people and the people who are able to come together to help those that need it. The focus of the novel worked, building the tension needed for the mysterious assailant that Mina and Harker are trying to find. And the reveal about what exactly is working against the characters and how it relates to Harker and Mina was just so interesting. I was not expecting the reveals that Fisher gave and I appreciated how Fisher was able to hold some of the smaller threads of the story I was still wanting to understand and then provided the answers readers needed. Everything flows in the book, the slow burn between Mina and Harker adding to the easy pace of the story. The book flows, think more trickling stream versus rushing river, and it adds to the vibe of cozy murder mystery that allows readers to enjoy the reveals as they come without being rushed. It's obviously well-researched as well, always a plus in my opinion.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I read Fisher's debut, Ghost Planet, back when it was first published and managed to find my copy in my library a few nights ago. I also have The Ophelia Prophecy right next to it on the shelf, so obviously will be starting that book this weekend. I also have Salt & Broom on my tablet, so suffice to say, I have a good number of Fisher novels to get back to reading, and a bunch more that I'll soon discover for the first time. Thanks to this book, I've found another author that I'll be following closely from now on, and I always like it when I can find an author with enough books to add to my towering TBR stacks.

Rating on my scale: 9 Stars. I'm a selfish reader, I wish there was a little more to the story. More to delve into, more to witness with how it ends or even what is to come. Still, like I said, there are more Fisher books for me to read, so at least there's that for me.

Book Review: Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage

I still have 1 more book in this series to read. This one feels unfinished somehow, though. I think my issue is the way things still stand with Cam's parents. I feel like we should have seen some mention of them in passing and then have Cam actively saying or thinking something about how she's cut off communication with them until things change. As it is in the book, sure, it was great she walked away from them but after years of how they were, I wanted something with a bit more of a swift kick to the ribs kind of feel to it.

Also, that last tiff between Cam and Dusty was just meh. I was glad that Wes was quick to point out how Cam was being stupid and looking for something to keep her and Dusty apart. I know people make these kind of decisions all the time but ugh, it just irks me. At least it doesn't get dragged out, Sage is quick to resolve these issues in this series. Forever grateful for that.

I liked this one more than the first two books. If that pattern holds, I might really like Gus and Teddy's story. Fingers crossed.

P.s. I thought the reason they stayed apart for so long was going to be something more? Instead, she left and then just what? They texted occasionally? Seemed a little weird to me.