Review: Vaclav & Lena: A Novel

Vaclav & Lena: A Novel by Haley Tanner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What is the truth? This books is full of illusions, from magic to the misinformation the characters give each other. I enjoyed this story of immigrants and I also liked that not everything I expected was as I expected it to be. I found the ending to be a bit less than I wanted from the story, but it was also satisfying. I would recommend this as an audiobook as I listened to it and it fit the audio format well. It is a moving story and one I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did. Vaclav and Lena are both characters that have the ability to emotionally engage you. If you are on the fence about this book, I'd say listen to it, I'm glad I did.

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Review: A Princess in Theory

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This started slowly for me, but I did end up enjoying the story. It was predictable in all aspects. I liked the characters but it took a while. I liked Alyssa Cole's historical fiction better.

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Review: Educated

Educated by Tara Westover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure I was going to like this memoir knowing that the author had a religious childhood. I was surprised to find the story engaging and heart breaking.

I listened to this as an audiobook and I found myself rushing to the end. I'm glad that the author shared her story. It was difficult to see the struggle with her family play out. I would recommend the memoir.

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Review: Sarah's Key

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that has a bit of a back and forth between the past and present. I wondered about it at first but then it moved all to the current time line. I really liked the story but I wanted a little something different from the build to the ending. The ending itself was nice, but the pre-ending felt a little summary to me. Overall a very good WWII story and I'm glade I read it.

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Review: The Core of the Sun

The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Core of the Sun is translated from Finish and I kept wondering if it would have been as strange if I had not been reading the translation. It reminded me a lot of The Handmaid's Tale, but with chili peppers. I would recommend it, but it does open with the main character testing hot chili powder in her vagina. It was a strange opening and the book continued to be strange. Emotions had smells for our narrator and while I liked that it was a little strange the first time or two. I did really enjoy the book and the characters.

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Review: Dark Triumph

Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading Sybella's story. Her story was a little darker than the first but I still found it enjoyable. I read the first book quite some time ago and I knew that this book would not depend fully on having read the first book. It was nice having the background from the first book, but it turned out I didn't need to remember the book completely to enjoy this story. I'm really enjoying this series a lot.

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Review: The Next Best Thing

The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a nice light read. I liked the first book in the Gideon's Cover series better. I thought maybe we would see characters from the first book, but this was a stand alone.

Lucy and Ethan were both fun characters and I enjoyed the story. I was a little annoyed with Lucy at times but for the most part I liked the characters and it was a nice light read.

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