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Real. Refreshing. Reviews.

Tag: #essays

July 31, 2018July 31, 2018

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Historical Fiction

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. I’m closing out this month with an audiobook. All of the traveling this season has really helped me put a dent in some of these audiobooks! - What happens when you cross a high profile, expensive Nantucket wedding on July 4th weekend with a sudden and untimely death that hints at possible murder? Drama, and lots of it. This book has it all. There’s the family drama, romantic drama, friend drama, and more. - #ThePerfectCouple is advertised as a crime fiction novel, but there is hardly any true police investigative work here. It’s not very realistic from that angle, which was disappointing (Who ends a potential murder investigation after only one day of suspect questioning?!). If you’re looking for a great crime fiction novel, this one will disappoint you. If you’re looking for a well-rounded book that hits on a bunch of themes, then this will be perfect. Also, if you’re looking for a reprieve from cold weather and a throwback to the summer months, this one will take you there. - (Link in bio for full review and synopsis) . . . . . . . . #crimefiction #fiction #romance #bookreview #bookblog #bookblogger #bookish #bookcravings #booklover #bookrecommendations #bookcommunity #bookshelf #botm #igbooks #bookstagram #tbr #wordpress #wordpressblogger

I’ve been savoring this book this month. I bought it a couple months back and I am ashamed to say it sat in my TBR stack for far too long. However, I feel like I started it at just the right time. - November is Native American Heritage month and it is also the month in which most people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving. To celebrate Thanksgiving without understanding the history behind it is a gross erasure of the suffering Native Americans faced at the hands of colonizers. These abuses against Native Americans have had long lasting impacts that are seen in disproportionate levels in Natives even today. These include drug addiction, domestic violence, sexual violence, violence against Native women, heart disease, diabetes, depression, and more. - As a white female, I acknowledge my privilege. I seek to learn more about the current suffering of Native Americans and the history behind it. With this book, Tommy Orange not only invites us but implores us to read, listen, understand, acknowledge, and act. He gives voice to those whose voices have been drowned out and covered up. I have a feeling this is going to be a book I will be recommending for a long time. . . . . . . . #nativeamerican #therethere #tommyorange #violence #identity #spirituality #fiction #fallreading #bookreview #bookblog #bookstagram #nativeamericanheritagemonth #reading #booklover #bookish #igbooks #bookworm

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 “The thought was this: that all my life had been murk and depths, but I was not a part of that dark water. I was a creature within it.” - Circe is one among the gods, but could not be any more different from those she shares a home with. She feels empathy towards humans and feels disconnected with the other deities. It is not until she comes into her own powers and is subsequently exiled to an island that she undergoes a true transformation. Through abuse, love, loss, and motherhood Circe turns what was meant to be an existence of depravity and loneliness into something powerful and beautiful. - “But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.” - #Circe is the book for anyone who thinks they don’t like Greek mythology (that was me 🙋🏻‍♀️). I always found it hard to connect with the characters in Greek myth stories because they felt more abstract than real, as did their conflicts and troubles. Miller does a fantastic (!!) job making Circe feel more human than deity. I felt empathetic towards Circe and she felt REAL. I imagine this is something that can be very difficult to achieve when one is writing about mythological beings. - Swipe to see my attempts at craftiness. I don’t proclaim to be proficient in any way, but it certainly was fun! Maybe I’ll embroider a scene for another book in the future 💁🏻‍♀️ - (Link in bio for full review and synopsis) . . . . . . #circe #madelinemiller #botm #bookofthemonth #bookreview #bookblog #bookstagram #embroidery #embroider #embroideryart #fiction #fantasy #greekmythology #greekmyth #reading #books #bookish #booklover #bookworm #bookaddict #bookquotes #bookclub #bookstagrammer #bookobsessed #bookshelves #wordpress #wordpressblogger

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 This fantasy YA novel is the first in a quartet, and is translated from French. It details the trials of Ophelia, a young woman with a unique set of gifts who is unwillingly married to a man on the other side of the dystopian world in which she lives. She doesn’t know it yet, but her gifts will become her biggest source of power and the biggest threat to her personal safety. - I feel that this series holds a lot of promise, but this first book was somewhat disenchanting. At nearly 500 pages, this book read like I was running a marathon with the promise of complimentary beer and donuts at the finish, only to find out that promise was a lie. There was little character development or plot development, and this book felt more like a foundation. - I’m afraid I need to hold back on judging this series as a whole until the second translated book is released in April. I feel that it has promise and I don’t want to completely cast it aside until I see what plot and character development Dabos can construct. Until then..... - (Link in bio for full review and synopsis) . . . . . . #fallreading #bookreview #reading #bookish #bookblog #booklover #fantasy #fiction #youngadult #ya #tbr #bookshelf #bookstagram #bookworm #bookcommunity #bookblogger #wordpress #wordpressblogger

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