Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

⭐⭐⭐/5

We are met with a foul mouthed, junk food-obsessed crow, experiencing the fall and extinction of human kind. They have all become zombified monsters. 

He decides to free all the domestics of humanity. His best friend is a adorable blood hound named Dennis and together they will fight the evolution of said monsters and thrive in the new world without humans. 

It's cute. I liked it. It was a fast read. It wasn't my complete cup of tea. But it wasn't bad either.  I liked the humor of the crow. As I said, it was cute. That's really about all I have to say about that. 

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I. Don't. Hand. Out. 5. Stars. 

This was so gooooooooooood! I loved every minute of it. 

I don't usually cry during books. But this one mad me SOB. THREE TIMES. 

The setting is World War II France. Two opposite sisters who could not be MORE different from each other. One who is more reserved and tactful. Then the other who is outspoken and in CHARGE. Even if it means losing her life. 

These two sisters live in a world where every move they make are being watched by the Nazi's and will be executed on the spot. 

I will not go on and ruin ANYTHING because it is just too wonderful to pass up. Read it. 

This book is heart wrenching and tear jerking but it's so important. 

Quarantine and Quakes

Not a book review. Just my thoughts. 

Utah has been... A mess. Since this quarantine has started, we have climbed to 257 cases, 1 death. And you know why?!

Because Utahns still went on spring break, went and panic bought ALL THE TOILET paper, still went and congregated in the canyon, you met all your precious missionaries in hoards. DO YOU NOT REALIZE WHY THEY CAME HOME IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!? To protect them from exposure! What are you doing?! You should be ashamed of yourself. 

Don't be surprised when come next week, our case rate QUADRUPLES because you couldn't BARE to welcome your missionary home with anything less than a fucking plethora of people. GOD FORBID you send a single champion to retrieve your missionary. But what do I know?

In the middle of the week, we got a wrench thrown in this said "mess" with a 5.7 magnitude earthquake... 😒. Really? 

LUCKILY, my dead-asleep ass, slept through the whole thing. Thank the gods, my children slept through too. I do not know how I would have handled that. Their poor screams of terror. But don't you worry, I have only got about 3 hours a night of sleep since then. Every little sound, every move my St. Bernard makes, every toss and turn my husband moves, I wake up in a panic, thinking its the next one. The "big one" that we have been due. I want to get my earthquake kit ready, I should already have one, I know, but the money we do have, must go to rent, more on that in a second. 

Everytime I see a facebook post, complaining about the aftershocks, my stomach sinks. 

Back to this pandemic, the government won't agree on relief funds. So the longer they take to make a decision, the longer my hubby has to make money. We would LOVE him to be home, in isolation. But without work, we don't have money to put food on the table. To pay our RENT, which BY THE WAY, our landlord gave us an extension of "3 WHOLE DAYS" OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, WHAT A SAINT......😒.... Humanity is just getting better and better isn't it? 3 extra days isn't going to do any good, when we aren't making any money, bro. He also made it plainly clear that if we do not pay it by then.... consider yourself evicted. What a wonderful wonderful man. Keeping us on our toes. 

People, this is serious. This is real. Take it seriously. 

I may have an aneurysm due to this anger and fire within me.

Be kind. Be considerate. Be nice to retail workers. Thank your healthcare workers. Stay colorful. And STAY, THE FUCK, HOME. 

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I liked it. It's been a while since I've read anything "paranormal." I'm pretty picky with paranormal stories. They are either super spooky, or super corny. This one was a happy medium. It was a little slow at times, but those moments didn't last too long at all.

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2017- We meet Carly Kirk, niece to Viv Delaney, who went missing, working as a night clerk at The Sun Down Motel in 1982, amongst several other women who had gone missing in the area, at that time. Carly takes over the night clerk position, putting herself in the mindset and aura of her missing aunt. She starts experiencing the same ghostly encounters and following the same mysteries as her aunt.

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That's as far as I'm going to go, to not reveal any spoilers. It's a fast read but it is worth it. I felt like I personally related to Heather, Carly's friend she meets along this adventure, on a SOUL LEVEL. Heather is my spirit animal. Read it, if only to gush over how adorable and real and wonderful Heather is.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

As expected, I loved the book! I'm not going to do a break down of events and plots because I have a life and that would take me 2 years. If you have not been living under a rock, you'll get the basic gist. Skip this review if you don't want spoilers.

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Going into this, I assumed it was going to be a dense read because of how thick the physical book is. But it's actually pretty easy to follow. Just long.

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I am in the "watched the series first" population, I know, I know, I'm a traitor. But moving on! The series ACTUALLY did a pretty great job in accuracy!

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One of the things I liked BETTER in the SERIES: I found that Daenerys and Khal's "Newly Wed" era in the book was super confusing. Their first night together he seemed to be... gentle? I mean. Please correct me if I read it wrong or misinterpreted the writing. Yes, she was hesitant at first, then at the end of the chapter she gave her consent. Words like "tender", "carefully", and "gently" fill the text in this chapter.

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Now, this all well and good, don't get me wrong. But the thing that confused me in the book is in her VERY NEXT chapter, she goes on to explain that he rapes her every night? What?! Where did that come from?

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So I did like the consistency of the series. Making their initial consummation a lot less... romantic?

I don't LIKE to see such things, but the book made it sound like everything was hunky dory one night, then randomly Khal changes his tune and becomes harsh and revolting again? Then Dany has the power to change him back to tender with more knowledge of new sex moves?! I don't get it.

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Book Pros: ANYWAY, for obvious reasons, the book gives more detail, you hate Sansa and Cersei more. Joffrey is more of a whiny bitch. Catelyn is more harsh toward Jon than in the series. Just more feelings!

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It was good. I'm going to continue the books for sure. Stay tuned.

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

⭐⭐⭐/5

*Spoilers*

I wasn't too impressed with this one. Though it had some important concepts, and intense side plots, it was kind of slow building. But the writing was casual enough to keep me interested, like an old friend tell you a story about her past. 

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We begin with a college freshman, Greer Kadetsky. A reserved young woman trying to find her way through all the ins and outs of college life. She decides to show her face at a party, with her new friend Zee,  and along the way gets groped by the schools "main man." Rejecting him, this fraternity loser throws a temper tantrum and belittles her, making her feel about 2 inches tall. He gets a "slap on the wrist," of course 🙄.

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She mostly copes with her injustice in silence, until a "feminist hero," Faith Frank, comes to her school to give a talk. Greer listens in amazement to this strong icon for change and equality. She pipes in a question in a small meek voice, "What do we do about the unpunishable misogyny all around us?" Or something to that effect. And Faith basically tells her to never stop using your voice and never stop fighting for what's right.

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They, Greer and Zee, follow her into the bathroom after the speech and gush over her. Faith takes a liking to Greer and offers her to come in for an interview to work with her program. 

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Of course Zee gets jealous and asks Greer to give Faith a letter she has written, introducing her value to the program as well. But Greer wants this for herself. She never gives her the letter. 

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Important concept #1: What the fuck?! What is wrong with women?! Why are we constantly sabotaging opportunities for each other?!  Why couldn't they BOTH enjoy that job?! We should be rising each other up! Not knocking each other down. SHE SHOULD HAVE GIVEN FAITH THE LETTER. She does end up regretting that decision later. Which shows she does have SOME conscience. Anyway! Moving on. She then tells Faith about the letter, which she encourages Greer to do what she feels is best for GREER. Um! Yeah, you are a 60-something woman giving advice to a young girl in her 20's, this is when you are supposed to encourage her to GIVE YOU THE LETTER SO YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION ABOUT HIRING HER AND THAT GREER IS AN ASSHOLE EVEN CONSIDERING KEEPING IT TO HERSELF. UGH. 

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She has a high school boyfriend, Cory. Apparently, they were both accepted to ivy-league schools, but Greers parents half-assed (haphazardly) the financial aid forms and that was the end of that. Which, again, what the fuck, parents?! Your child is dreaming of even GOING to college in general, let alone YALE! WHY WOULD YOU NOT TAKE THE FINANCIAL FORMS SERIOUSLY?! Yeah, so she was forced to go to a lower-acclaimed college. BUT with a full ride scholarship, so 🤷, maybe it worked out. 

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INTENSE SIDE PLOT: While Cory gains momentum in his career, he gets a call from home. His mother accidently (obviously) ran over his little brother in the drive-way, when he was looking for his turtle. WHAT?! Brutal. His dad blames his mom and bolts. He abandons all his responsibilities at his dream job, to take care of his mom. 

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For fear of being insensitive, I hesitate to say... Kinda random. Greer and Cory's relationship was already kind of snagged due to the long distance... Why did you have to go and kill off a kid? 

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As I said, the whole thing is slow building, so all I really remember is the basics. Greer finds out that a new program Faith is running is a scam. Putting on the performance that they are doing something great for underprivileged foreign women, giving them the chance at life. Faith claims she was turning a blind eye. Greer stands up to Faith and quits her job. But before she leaves, Faith makes sure to give Greer one last jab, that she did the exact same thing to Zee. "Turned a blind eye." So... you didn't tell her to do the RIGHT thing so you could use it for ammo against her later? How very FEMINIST of you 🙄. 

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OKAY. So basically the ONLY good characters are Zee and Alby, Cory's dead little brother... Oh! And Slowy, the turtle. Faith and Greer both unlikable characters. Zee, first of all never annoyed me, she was always funny, cute, and chill. Then, secondly, Greer confesses she never gave her the letter, and though, disappointed, accepts Greers apology and says, "You made a mistake. And you learned from it. We were young." Yeah.... Best. Friend. Ever.

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Greer and Cory reconnect, get married, have a baby, and Greer writes a book. 

Anyway, that's that. 

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

What cute, cute, cute, coming-of-age story. 

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Zelda is our protagonist. She is driven, outspoken, kind and so, so smart. She lives with her older brother, Gert, who struggles financially, and as we will see, goes to extravagant lengths to keep them afloat. She likes rules, rules keep things neat, organized and running smoothly. She has a healthy fixation on Old Norse culture and lore. So much so, that Gert surprises her with a Viking Impersonator for her birthday. There is one more thing that sets her apart from everyone else. She was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. An irreversible brain condition caused by exposure to alcohol while in the womb.

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She has a specific routine each week, and when it suddenly gets interrupted by a visit to a run down house of sketchy strangers, things start to spiral pretty quickly. 

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The story about sibling love, forgiveness, patience and persistence will make you laugh, mostly, but also, worry. You will get angry and your eyes will get a bit misty. The characters are likable, funny and real... The good characters, at least. The antagonists, not so much, obviously. 

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I do wish that there was more research done on the Norse culture for the writing of this novel. Some "facts" were filled with common misconceptions and a dash of stereotyping. The plot was cute enough for me to spare the nitty-gritty details, though 🙂. 

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

⭐⭐/5
OKAY, first of all, I want to say that I love dystopian novels. Dystopian is one of my favorite genres. But all that comes with dystopian is a lack of original material. It's always a post-apocalyptic disaster or a tyrannical government, right? Then a single hero or heroine that has "just had enough!" They stand up to said government! Go, fight, win! But... If Pierce Brown REALLY wanted to be a dick, he could TOTALLY have grounds to sue Red Queen for copyright infringement on Red Rising.

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I usually decide on my next read based on Goodreads ratings. Red Queen is sitting at a comfortable 4/5. I figured, "Meh! Why not?" Seemed interesting.
It was not AWFUL. Just... Sounded very familiar.
It is a watered down version of Red Rising.

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You have two houses, the reds and the silvers... like the reds and the... golds?
The reds are low class, and used as purely cruel entertainment and laboring for the snooty, royalty of the silvers. The silvers have "special abilities", alternatively, "evolutions." They use these to destroy reds at their most vulnerable. Case in point, the gladiator-esque executions.

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Anyone can be called to war to fund the silver regime. Which is the case for Mare, our main character. Our "heroine." She gets called to work right under the High Silvers' nose. And guess what? She's miraculously has powers, too! Whaaaaat?? OMGeeeeeeeeee!

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They start to groom her to be a princess to the crown. She revolts. Traitors are unmasked. She escapes. She gets mad and must have REVENGE. Yada, yada, yada.

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The end.
Wah, Wah, Wahhhhhh.
Definitely not catching that 4/5 hype. AND it was quite boring. Anyway, on to the next...

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Such a cute romance for the lgbtq+ community. It was very enjoyable, quirky, funny and sensual. I loved Alex and Henry's banter and relationship. There is a lot of likable characters which makes for a fun party! Modern communication references, film and tv references, dogs, the whole lot!

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Alex is the son of current, democratic, female President of the United States. Who is running for reelection soon, so it is, of course, imperative for everything to go according to plan and down to the exact letter, including NDAs on EVERY move him and the first family makes. 

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Henry is a British Prince heir. Closeted by the conservative standards of the British royal community. 

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Alex and the first family travel to the UK for a royal wedding. He meets Henry by accidently pushing him into the wedding cake. Which attracts media attention instantly, going off the rails about an international crisis in the making. The two families decide to eradicate the unfortunate incident, is to force them to spend a lot of time together, mend fences, become best friends. They have much trouble at first, insult after insult. But the more time they spend together the more the insults start to become playful teasing. 

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At a fancy-shmancy party, they walk off together and Henry plants a kiss on Alex. Alex struggles with his sexuality for a hot minute, then realizes events in his past leads him to accept he has been Bi-sexual all along. 

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And as the typical Rom-Com goes: they delve into this secret love affair. Things go... Left and Right... Heh. Get it? Nevermind. Twist and turns abound and they have to see if they can overcome the stigma and intolerance of same-sex relationships in a very public, influential and political enviroment. Will they get their happily, ever after? 

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I loved it. The only reason I gave this a 4/5 is because of the typical layout of predictible events in most Rom-Coms. But it was still very enjoyable. 

Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I loved Thief River falls! It was intense and moving. The ending was a tad predictable but not so bad to stop me from reading. The protagonist was relatable, likable and strong. 

🔺Spoilers Ahead🔺

It starts with an excerpt of Thief River Falls, a thriller of author Lisa Power. A disturbing scene of a small boy, seemingly unconscious to the men burying him in a gravesite on a rainy night.  He's seen too much of something and must be taken care of.  But he's not dead. He waits for the strangers to leave. Then weakly digs his way out, gasping at the surface for fresh air. 

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Lisa wakes up with a start, just in time to make her appearance at book club her novel is featured, via video-call. She connects the call, answers all her fans' questions. Hesitates and dodges some unnecessary personal questions. When she asks for any final questions the husband of the host to the book club steps in, "I have a question. I was wanted to know if you have ever been afraid that someone will bring your books to life."

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She woke up that night, dreaming someone was at her door. But then she heard the actual pounding of her front door. She checks the door and finds a boy hiding on her front patio. A young boy, drenched from the night rain, dirty, freezing and scared. 

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The boy refuses to give Lisa his name. She nicknames him "Purdue," after the boy in her thriller. She goes throughout the book dodging all the obstacles of Purdue being caught, killed. 

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Finally, they both reach the tracks, of a train that will take Purdue to Canada. To start a free, happy, loving life. However, they are surrounded by law enforcement so only one can go, while the other is a decoy. 

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The books' twists and turns were exciting and in all of its' finality: touching. Those who read it will understand me when I say that it is also very important to what is missing in our current culture. And that's all I have to say, without COMPLETELY spoiling the ending. 

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A story about love, loss, forgiveness, perseverance, strength and bravery. A definite quality addition to your bookshelf. 

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
I loved this one! From start to finish. The absolute, pure, loving, real, hilarious relationship Elsa has with Granny gives me life.
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We have this incredibly well-read 7 year old, Elsa. She is fierce, independent, and raw. She has read all the Harry Potter books SEVERAL times. She is emphatically, grammatically correct. Her Granny is her superhero, she is witty, sly, mischievous, loud, eccentric and passionate. Elsa loves her mom, Ulrika, but she is "everything that Granny is not." She's structured, organized, tactful, patient, which makes it hard for Granny and Mom to agree on anything.
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Granny has created this mythical, fairy-tale world that Elsa has fully submerged herself into. A beautiful way to understand the things in life that are typically difficult to comprehend. Especially for a 7 year old.
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It's no secret that this feisty Granny, gets cancer and passes away very early in the book. She leaves Elsa to go on a grand adventure. A "treasure hunt." Granny has letters addressed to everyone she knew. Apologizing to them for all the petty annoyances and nasty things she did and said to them.
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A cute coming of age story for a very extraordinary "almost 8 year old." Elsa discovers the past of her Granny and learns how to move on toward a happy future.

The Speed of Falling Objects by Nancy Richardson Fischer

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

It was a little slow building, which is hard for me to stick to. If a book doesn't capture my attention in the first couple chapters, It's more than likely going to end up on my DNF (did not finish) shelf. CALL ME A MILLENNIAL! Whatever. 😉 I have a small attention span. 

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But as it continued, it did get better. 

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It starts out with young Danny, or Danger "Danny" Danielle Warren. A young girl, about to be 17, living with her single mom. She has a very little to no relationship with her famous, TV-Survivalist father, Cougar, an unlikable character. When he invites her to join him on his next TV adventure, she hesitantly accepts, in hopes this will ignite the relationship she has been searching for. 

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Things don't go as planned, of course, and the plane crashes in the middle of an unknown jungle. Tragedies happen, poisonous crawlers are encountered, and a little touch of romance with one of the other passengers. However, she soon realizes that her father is not exactly who she thought him to be. She then has to decide if she wants anything to do with him after they leave this place... IF they leave this place. 

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Without going into any spoilers, I thought it was a breath of fresh air... (Ha. Get it?) It's a YA book that doesn't focus on a PLETHORA of teenage angst, breaking a nail, romantic drama or vampire infatuations 🙄. It was much more important than that. It was about her desperate longing to get to know her dad, and learning that sometimes things are better left unknown. Having my own daddy issues, I sympathized with Danny in many areas.

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Thank you, Nancy for this giveaway! I did enjoy it! 😊