Review: A House of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna

Title: A Spark of White Fire (The Celestial Trilogy #1)

Author: Sangu Mandanna

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

Pages: 311 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Sky Pony

Publication date: September 11th, 2018

Synopsis from A House of White Fire's Goodreads page

In a universe of capricious gods, dark moons, and kingdoms built on the backs of spaceships, a cursed queen sends her infant daughter away, a jealous uncle steals the throne of Kali from his nephew, and an exiled prince vows to take his crown back. 

Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali. 

It’s a great plan. Until it falls apart.

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to Thomas Allen & Son for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Going into this book, I found the beginning to be a little bit slow for me. When I read a space opera/science fiction book, I expect to be pulled in straight away. With this book, it took a few chapters before I was really pulled in and immersed in the world, and I am SO thrilled that I stayed with it. This book ended up being amazing, and it ended up being so much better than I had hoped for.
This book is very much about discovering who you are and who you want to be. The main character, Esmae, struggles with many aspects of her identity for her entire life (as you find out why fairly early on in the book) and it is understandable why that is. She is very young, and she has a lot placed on her shoulders. I loved how this book showed that even though you may know who you are, you may know nothing about yourself, your family, or where you come from, and that means that you are missing a part of yourself until you figure it out. I loved how Esmae knows what she wants out of life, and that she has a plan to get it from the very beginning of the book.
I also loved how much emphasis the author put into love and friendship. Esmae has few wonderful people around her, however the ones she has are devoted to her and she is devoted to them. I loved how it shows that friends will do anything for each other, and that friendship can conquer anything, even a prophecy that the gods can see no way around.
I also loved the character development in this book. The author does an amazing job of having certain characters grow and become stronger, more fearless people, and it doesn't feel forced, it feels natural to read about them in that way.
I also loved the setting of this book - imagine battleships, force fields, and floating cities in space, then add a talking space ship to all of that. Absolutely amazing descriptions, and I love how each of these amazing ideas were described.
The only reason this book wasn't a full five stars for me was the slightly slow beginning as well as the awful cliffhanger (and by awful I mean amazing except for now having to wait for the next book!!), however I am SUPER EXCITED to read the rest of the trilogy and see where it leads!

Overall - ★★★★☆

Blog Tour: The Current by Tim Johnston

Title: The Current

Author: Tim Johnston

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Pages: 406 (Paperback - ARC)

Publisher: Algonquin

Publication date: January 22nd, 2019

Synopsis from The Current's Goodreads page

When two young women leave their college campus in the dead of winter for a 700-mile drive north to Minnesota, they suddenly find themselves fighting for their lives in the icy waters of the Black Root River, just miles from home. One girl’s survival, and the other’s death—murder, actually—stun the citizens of a small Minnesota town, thawing memories of another young woman who lost her life in the same river ten years earlier, and whose killer may yet live among them. One father is forced to relive his agony while another’s greatest desire—to bring a killer to justice—is revitalized . . . and the girl who survived the icy plunge cannot escape the sense that she is connected to that earlier unsolved case by more than a river. Soon enough she’s caught up in an investigation of her own that will unearth long-hidden secrets, and stoke the violence that has long simmered just below the surface of the town. Souls frozen in time, ghosts and demons, the accused and the guilty, all stir to life in this cold northern place where memories, like treachery, run just beneath the ice, and where a young woman can come home but still not be safe.

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to Thomas Allen & Son for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I had a hard time at the beginning of this book; I found that I was confusing people and names, however after a few chapters everything started falling into place and I ended up really enjoying it!
The setting in this book I really enjoyed - the way that the author described the towns, and especially how they described the rivers, how they moved, how they froze over in winter, how cold they were - it really gave the book life and made it feel realistic. It made you feel like you were in the book, one of the characters, instead of just reading it. The settings were extremely life-like, and I really enjoy that in a book. When the author can make the reader feel like they are actually there, in the book with the characters, it's been done very well.
The characters in the book were also done very well. I found that they were all different, some good and some evil, some kind and others mean. They all had their quirks, and they all had some issues, but that made them seem more human and more relate-able. I really enjoyed reading about them!
The other thing I enjoyed is just how...sad this book is. These poor girls have so many bad things happen to them, and all of them have so many things that they have to struggle through. Especially the main character - she continuously has so many things to fight through, so many things to deal with and so many problems to face, and none of them are small or easy to deal with. This book is sad, but it is sad in a good way. We see her strength, her resilience, and her abilities through her struggles, and that made this sad book a little less sad.
The only reason this didn't get a full five stars for me was because I wanted everything to be neatly wrapped up at the end, and I feel like a little more could have been added, even an epilogue or something similar a few years or months down the road, just so that all of the loose strings could be tied up neatly. Other than that, I loved this book and I highly recommend it!

Overall - ★★★★☆

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Review: The Rule of One by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders

Title: The Rule of One (The Rule of One #1)

Author: Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders

Genre: Science Fiction/Futuristic

Pages: 270 (Paperback)

Publisher: Skyscape

Publication date: October 1st, 2018

Synopsis from The Rule of One's Goodreads page

In their world, telling the truth has become the most dangerous crime of all.

In the near-future United States, a one-child policy is ruthlessly enforced. Everyone follows the Rule of One. But Ava Goodwin, daughter of the head of the Texas Family Planning Division, has a secret—one her mother died to keep and her father has helped to hide for her entire life.

She has an identical twin sister, Mira.

For eighteen years Ava and Mira have lived as one, trading places day after day, maintaining an interchangeable existence down to the most telling detail. But when their charade is exposed, their worst nightmare begins. Now they must leave behind the father they love and fight for their lives.

Branded as traitors, hunted as fugitives, and pushed to discover just how far they’ll go in order to stay alive, Ava and Mira rush headlong into a terrifying unknown.

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to Thomas Allen & Son for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I was a little hesitant going into this book, because I went into it pretty blind! Every once in awhile I enjoy starting to read a book having forgotten what it was about, and honestly I think that was a good decision with this book!
I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this book, however I did enjoy it quite a bit! It is a very futuristic, science fiction-y type book, however it doesn't really feel like that when you read it. It takes place in the future where the government of the United States has drastically changed for the worst, and controls the number of children a family can have. Unfortunately, the main family in the novel had identical twin girls, and instead of choosing one to keep, they managed to hide them and allow each of them to have a life that the government doesn't know about.
I liked the premise of the book itself - I enjoy futuristic books where the government has become all-controlling because I really enjoy seeing how the characters will react to what happens, and I feel like you can learn a lot about characters that way.
Both Ava and Mira are very similar characters, however the author right away makes distinctions between them, and I enjoyed that. It makes the reader more impressed that they had managed to pretend to be the same person much more impressive.
I also enjoyed their relationship, as well as their relationships with other people. They both felt very real and I liked seeing how they were able to react to other people and each other.
One issue I had with this book was that it was a little slow at the beginning. I found that it took a little for the major action to start, however I also found that all the information that was explained in the beginning was necessary for the book, so it was a little slow but very much needed.
Another thing was that I found both characters' point of views to be VERY similar - I had a hard time distinguishing which character was which, and I had to go back to the beginning of the chapter to figure out exactly which character's point of view I was reading a few times throughout the novel.
I enjoyed the book, and although it did feel familiar at some points to some other books I have read and some TV shows I have watched, I did enjoy it and I am for sure going to be reading the second novel!

Overall - ★★★☆☆.5 

Review: What Have You Done by Matthew Farrell

Title: What Have You Done

Author: Matthew Farrell

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Pages: 303 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publication date: October 1st, 2018

Synopsis from What Have You Done's Goodreads page

When a mutilated body is found hanging in a seedy motel in Philadelphia, forensics specialist Liam Dwyer assumes the crime scene will be business as usual. Instead, the victim turns out to be a woman he’d had an affair with before breaking it off to save his marriage. But there’s a bigger problem: Liam has no memory of where he was or what he did on the night of the murder.

Panicked, Liam turns to his brother, Sean, a homicide detective. Sean has his back, but incriminating evidence keeps piling up. From fingerprints to DNA, everything points to Liam, who must race against time and his department to uncover the truth—even if that truth is his own guilt. Yet as he digs deeper, dark secrets come to light, and Liam begins to suspect the killer might actually be Sean…

When the smoke clears in this harrowing family drama, who will be left standing?

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to Thomas Allen & Son for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I really enjoyed this book! Another psychological thriller (which I know I do read and review a lot of, however I absolutely love them all).
I found the beginning of this book to be a bit slow. I struggled through the first 50-75 pages, and I debated if I wanted to finish it. I got confused as to the backstory versus real time events, however I am very, very glad that I kept reading and didn't put it down, because I FLEW through the rest of it and I loved the rest of the story!
I found the overall story itself to be interesting and entertaining, which is what you hope to get out of a book. I don't read a lot of serial killer type books, however after reading this one I may just go and find more to read!
I found the plot line itself to be a little predictable at times, and I realized who the killer was quite ahead of the final end scene and the big reveal. However, I still wanted to keep reading and I did want to find out exactly why and how they did everything. I found the plot moved at a good pace past the first 50 or so pages, and it starts to really pick up near the end, which made the book much easier to read, and much more intense and enjoyable.
The characters of this book I absolutely loved. Every single one of them was wonderful in their own ways (even the evil ones!!). I adore evil characters being perfectly evil, and this was definitely one of those cases! I really enjoyed the back stories of the characters, and I really like how the events from the past of all of their lives were described and how instrumental they were in creating the actual story itself. I would actually really enjoy just a short story on the backstory of Liam and Sean from when they were younger, and just how and why what happened (no spoilers - you'll have to read the book to find out!) happened.

Overall - ★★★☆☆.5 

Review: After Nightfall by A. J. Banner

Title: After Nightfall

Author: A. J. Banner

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Pages: 247 (Paperback)

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Publication date: August 7th, 2018

Synopsis from After Nightfall's Goodreads page

Beware of friends with secrets…

Imagine your closest friend utterly betraying you. Years later, when she seeks forgiveness, you invite her to your engagement party as a gesture of reconciliation. But seething hostilities rise to the surface, ruining everyone’s evening. After an awful night, your friend’s battered, lifeless body is found at the bottom of a rocky cliff.

Newly engaged Marissa Parlette is living this nightmare. She should be celebrating her upcoming wedding, but she can’t shake the image of her friend lying dead on the beach. Did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she take a purposeful step into darkness? Desperate for answers, Marissa digs deep into the events of the party. But what she remembers happening after nightfall now carries sinister implications: the ugly sniping, the clandestine meetings, the drunken flirtations. The more she investigates, the more she questions everything she thought she knew about her friends, the man she once trusted, and even herself.

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to Thomas Allen & Son for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I quite enjoyed this book! I've been into the psychological thriller phase for awhile now, and I have really only not enjoyed one or two books in that genre - thankfully this is one that I enjoyed!
The book opens up with a dinner party that is happening, with the announcement of an engagement between two of the main characters. Things start to spiral out of control after a few drinks and some celebration, and already negative feelings and emotions get stronger. Following the dinner party, an old friend (and not a great one) is found dead nearby. The remainder of the book is the struggle of finding out what happened and if it was a murder, who killed her, and why?
I really enjoyed the suspense in this book. I found that the main character Marissa is the main reason for the suspense - she is determined to find the person who killed her friend, and she is determined to find out why. She goes off searching for answers, and in result she places herself into unsafe situations, resulting in getting herself into danger. There are many small twists and turns throughout this book, as Marissa is working towards finding out what happened to her friend.
Throughout the book, Marissa suspects many different people in killing her friend, and because of this she suspects many horrible things are happening. These thoughts make many people angry at her, and she risks her own relationships and her own life in order to solve the mystery.
I really enjoyed Marissa as a character. I found that she was very stubborn, very focused, and very outlandish at times as well, letting anxiety and worry take over. She was realistic at most times, however sometimes she would become a little too focused on the murder and in result get into some sticky situations.
I liked how the author made her relationships and her life suffer in result of what happened, because many authors make the characters pretend that everything is perfectly fine after a murder happens. I liked seeing how so much stress and worry was placed on the character that she had to make hard decisions and had to get herself out of sticky situations and it made her stronger in result.

Overall - ★★★☆☆.5 

2019 Reads

2015 Reads | 2016 Reads | 2017 Reads| 2018 Reads

Last updated: September 3rd, 2019

January

1. ★★★☆☆.5    What Have You Done by Matthew Farrell
2. ★★★☆☆.5    The Rule of One by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders
3. ★★★★☆       A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna
4. ★★★★☆       The Current by Tim Johnston
5. ★★★★☆       Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers

February

1. ★★★★☆.5    The Matchmaker's List by Sonya Lalli
2. ★★★☆☆.75  Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith
3. ★★★★☆       The Au Pair by Emma Rous
4. ★★☆☆☆.5    Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

August

1. ★★★★☆       The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

September

1. ★★★★☆       The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
2. ★★★★☆       The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

October

1. ★★★★☆       Find You in the Dark by Nathan Ripley
2. ★★★★☆       The Homecoming by Andrew Pyper
3. ★★★★☆       The Butterfly Girl (Naomi Cottle #2) by Rene Denfield

November

1. ★★★★★       Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell
2. ★★★★★       The Tattooist of Auschwitz (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #1) by Heather Morris
3. ★★★★☆       Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

December

1. ★★★★★       Red Rising (Red Rising Saga #1) by Pierce Brown

Books read this year: 19

Review: Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell

Title: Truth and Lies (DI Amy Winter #1)

Author: Caroline Mitchell

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Pages: 348 (Paperback)

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publication date: August 30th, 2018

Synopsis from Truth and Lies' Goodreads page

Meet Amy Winter: Detective Inspector, daughter of a serial killer.

DI Amy Winter is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her highly respected police officer father. But when a letter arrives from the prison cell of Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious husband-and-wife serial-killer team, it contains a revelation that will tear her life apart.

Responsible for a string of heinous killings decades ago, Lillian is pure evil. A psychopathic murderer. And Amy’s biological mother. Now, she is ready to reveal the location of three of her victims—but only if Amy plays along with her twisted game.

While her fellow detectives frantically search for a young girl taken from her mother’s doorstep, Amy must confront her own dark past. Haunted by blurred memories of a sister who sacrificed herself to save her, Amy faces a race against time to uncover the missing bodies.

But what if, from behind bars, Grimes has been pulling the strings even tighter than Amy thought? And can she overcome her demons to prevent another murder?

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to Thomas Allen & Son for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This is another psychological thriller book, however, this one is from the perspective of a cop, which I found to be different and refreshing! I don't want to give too much away about the things that happen in the beginning of the book because I don't want to spoil anything, however it dragged me right in from the beginning and I read it in one sitting!
I absolutely LOVED the suspense and the plot twists in this book - I found it to be fast paced and was taken by surprise for a fair amount of the twists and turns in the book.
I loved how the characters developed and changed throughout the book as well as how the affected and changed each other. I loved how the main character, Amy Winter, was forced to make some hard decisions, and I also enjoyed that she put others in front of herself - she is very selfless, and it made reading about what happened to her in the past as a child painful, but also very eye opening as well. Reading about what happened to her shows the reader why she is the way that she is, as well as why she makes the decisions that she does. It shows who she is, and I really enjoy books that show characters in that way, as well as books with characters that have had something bad happen to them in the past, so that the reader can see how they have overcome it as well as how it has affected them. It makes them feel more real, and I find that it is easier to connect to flawed characters than to perfect, unrealistic characters.
I also really enjoyed the setting of the book - the author did an amazing job of describing the settings, the surroundings, and the people and objects in the book. It felt like you were right there with the detectives when they were trying to find the bodies of the victims.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The characters were flawed in ways that made them easy to connect to and felt realistic, the twists and turns kept the book interesting and fast paced, and the descriptions of the setting and people in them were very well done and made the story, and the book, more life like.
I can't wait to get my hands on the second one!

Overall - ★★★★☆