Gotham Academy Second Semester Vol. 1-2

Title: Gotham Academy

Author: Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl

Publisher: DC 2017

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 158

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

It’s the second semester at Gotham Academy, and everything is back to normal. Of course, “normal” for Gotham’s top prep school would be considered uncontrollable weirdness anywhere else!

First, a bunch of students start walking out of their extracurricular activities with no explanation and signing up for a strange new society—Witch Club! Then, a stolen map of the Academy puts the students on the trail of ancient symbols and hidden chambers.

There’s plenty for the Detective Club to investigate—but Olive Silverlock is distracted by her new rebel roommate, Amy. Is Maps Mizoguchi right to be suspicious of a bad influence, or just jealous that she’s losing her best friend?

Plus, Detective Club is joined by the World’s Greatest Detective—Batman!

Collects GOTHAM ACADEMY: SECOND SEMESTER #1-3, #5-8.

And we’re back to the actual storyline thankfully. We get an interesting new character and more answers. I loved getting more about Colton and Pom. We get some movement on various relationships. I loved to see where the stories were going.

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Title: Gotham Academy

Author: Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, Adam Archer

Publisher: DC 2017

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 128

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

The second semester at Gotham Academy is wrapping up, but more than just the school year may be coming to an end. Olive Silverlock is possessed by the spirit of her ancestor, Amity Arkham, a ghoulish entity who wants to burn Gotham City to the ground.

As Amity leads Olive on a mission of fire and vengeance, the rest of Detective Club scrambles to find a way to free their friend. When their rescue attempt leads them to an ancient relic hidden inside Wayne Manor, will Damian Wayne be able to help the students without revealing his secret identity as Robin?

And when Amity’s control pits Olive against villains Two-Face and the Penguin, Olive’s friends’ good intentions might just get them killed…

Collects GOTHAM ACADEMY: SECOND SEMESTER issues #9-12 and #4, from the creative team of Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, and Karl Kerschl, Adam Archer and MSASSYK.

The first issue of this volume was definitely my favorite. We get an interesting carnival themed story featuring Hammerhead and the past of Gotham Academy. Beyond that story, we get a sort of conclusion to the series. I was slightly disappointed that we don’t get more involvement with Batman and Robin, but the glimpses were nice. Overall, I really enjoyed this series.

Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy

Title: Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy

Author: Chynna Clugston-Flores, Maddi Gonzalez, Whitney Cogar Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

Publisher: BOOM! 2017

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 160

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

The Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy kids team up!

DREAM TEAM UP!

When a teacher at Gotham Academy goes missing, it’s up to Olive, Maps, Colton, Pom, and Kyle to figure out what is happening and how to get her back. With only an outdated birthday invitation as the clue, they find themselves in the middle of the woods with no idea of where to start. With the sudden appearance of the Lumberjanes—April, Jo, Mal, Molly, Ripley and Jen—who are on the hunt for their missing Camp Director, all clues point to an abandoned cabin with more secrets than cobwebs.

BOOM! Studios and DC Comics team up to bring together Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy for the ultimate friendship-fueled crossover event. Written by Chynna Clugston Flores (Blue Monday), and illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me) and Maddi Gonzalez, this is a running-for-your-life-from-skeletal-monsters mystery that leads to lifelong friendship!

Oh such fun! I loved this adventure romp featuring both the ladies of Roanoke Cabin and the students from Gotham Academy. The was lighter than the other Gotham Academy volumes and more like a Lumberjanes volume. Thank goodness. I wanted the fun romp through a slightly strange mystery. It was great to see the connections between the two worlds and a few of the characters. Lots of fun for an afternoon’s reading.

The Invisible of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab

Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Author: V.E. Schwab

Publisher: Tor Books 2020

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 448

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever―and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

This was a beautiful, haunting, thought-provoking book. I didn’t want the story to end. I was sucked into the basic premise of the book and then grew to really love Addie and Henry and even Luc. I loved the first part of the book as we follow Addie in the, somewhat, present time and in her past. I loved following her along her travels and growth. And then Henry enters the picture. I loved him as an addition to Addie’s life, but wasn’t sure about the narration from his point of view. It took me a bit to settle into his story. When I did, I fell for Henry also. It surprised me that I grew to love Luc so much over the course of the story. Overall, I loved every part of this book. I am definitely keeping it on my shelf. And it’s going on my Top 10 of the year list!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Gotham Academy Vol. 1-3

Title: Gotham Academy Vol. 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy

Author: Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl

Publisher: DC 2015

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 160

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Welcome to Gotham Academy, the most prestigious school in Gotham City. Only the best and brightest students may enter its halls, study in its classrooms, explore its secret passages, summon its terrifying spirits…

Okay, so Gotham Academy isn’t like other schools. But Olive Silverlock isn’t like other students. After a mysterious incident over summer break, she’s back at school with a bad case of amnesia, an even worse attitude… and an unexplained fear of bats.

Olive’s supposed to show new student Maps Mizoguchi the ropes. Problem: Maps is kid sister of Kyle, Olive’s ex. Then there’s the ghost haunting the campus…the secret society conducting bizarre rituals…and Bruce Wayne, the weirdo billionaire who funds the Academy - and may know the secret to Olive’s big mystery.

Find out in GOTHAM ACADEMY VOL. 1, the acclaimed new series from co-writers Becky Cloonan (DEMO) and Brendan Fletcher (BATGIRL) and artist Karl Kerschl (TEEN TITANS: YEAR ONE)! Collects GOTHAM ACADEMY #1-6.

I’ve never read much of the DC Universe, but I picked up this series because there is a crossover with Lumberjanes. I loved the mix of Nancy Drew-esque mystery solving and actual supernatural events. I want to know more about Olive and Tristan and the various teachers. There are definitely mysteries in abundance at Gotham Academy. I am completely on board for the ride.

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Title: Gotham Academy Vol. 2: Calamity

Author: Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, Mingjue Helen Chen

Publisher: DC 2016

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 144

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Gotham Academy is haunted!

At the beginning of the term, Olive Silverlock returned to Gotham Academy a shadow of her former self. But thanks to her new friendships and their Detective Club sleuthing, Olive was finally starting to feel whole again.

Then, abruptly, Olive’s mother died—or, she seemed to. In the weeks after the funeral, Olive begins seeing her mother around the school. An Arkham Asylum patient with a deadly dark side, Sybil Silverlock was a powerful and complicated woman. Could her spirit be reaching out from beyond the grave? And if so, is it motherly Sybil who haunts Olive—or her deadly alter ego Calamity?

Plus, the kids hunt a werewolf on campus and Maps teams up with the Academy’s newest transfer, Damian Wayne!

Writers Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher team with artists Karl Kerschl and Mingjue Helen Chen for GOTHAM ACADEMY VOL. 2: CALAMITY. Collects GOTHAM ACADEMY #7-12 and DC SNEAK PEEK: GOTHAM ACADEMY #1.

I still really enjoyed this volume of stories, although it wasn’t quite as interesting as the first one. The mysteries continue to deepen, but we don’t get many answers to all our questions. I do love the addition of Damian Wayne. Wonder where that’s story is going to go?

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Title: Gotham Academy Vol. 3: Yearbook

Author: Brenden Fletcher, Derek Fridolfs, Dustin Nguyen, Rafael Albuquerque

Publisher: DC 2016

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 176

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Life grabs you by the wrist..." and hands you this year's Gotham Academy yearbook!

The students of Gotham's most prestigious prep school are back and they've just survived one heck of a year within the walls of Gotham Academy. Now it's time for everyone to look back and experience some of the lost adventures from the school year that was. Featuring stories and art by some of comics' best and brightest creators including Dustin Nguyen (BATMAN: L'IL GOTHAM), Derek Fridolfs (BATMAN: L'IL GOTHAM) and Rafael Albuquerque (AMERICAN VAMPIRE), as well as from regular series writer Brenden Fletcher (BATGIRL)!

Collects GOTHAM ACADEMY #13-17.

This was more of a compilation of vignettes than a big story arc. I did love the glimpses into the Robins and the larger problems with Batman.

Lumberjanes Volumes

Title: Lumberjanes The Shape of Friendship

Author: Lilah Sturges, Shannon Watters, Brooklyn Allen, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, polterink

Publisher: BOOM! 2019

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 144

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

While adventuring in the woods, Jo, Mal, Molly, April, and Ripley discover the hiding place of a group of magical creatures called Pookas and they think they’ve found new friends. But what they don’t know is that the Pookas are tired of hiding, and they’ve found the perfect way to join the outside world…by impersonating the Lumberjanes themselves and taking over Camp! To reclaim their identities, the ’Janes will have to work together to remember who they really are…and to help another group of friends accept themselves, too, in a story about looking inside yourself and learning to love who you meet there.

I didn’t quite realize that this was part of the first trade as a standalone volume. It was nice to revisit the ladies of Roanoke cabin and their first adventures into the woods.

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Title: Lumberjanes The Infernal Compass

Author: Lilah Sturges, Shannon Watters, Brooklyn Allen, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, polterink

Publisher: BOOM! 2018

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 144

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

The first original graphic novel set in the award winning and critically acclaimed Lumberjanes world!

When the Janes start to become separated during an orienteering outing thanks to a mysterious compass, Molly becomes more and more insecure about the effect of her relationship with Mal on the other girls. Meanwhile, a lonely woman explorer is trying to steal the compass, with the help of some weirdly polite automaton butlers.

Such a fun story! I loved this fun adventure. Mal and Molly are such a perfect fun couple.

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

Title: Lovecraft Country

Author: Matt Ruff

Publisher: Harper Perennial 2017

Genre: Horror

Pages: 400

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

The critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.

Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George—publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide—and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite—heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors—they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.

At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn—led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb—which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his—and the whole Turner clan’s—destruction.

This was the horror journey that I needed this month. Right away we get glimpses into a life and world that isn’t going to be normal. I loved that we jump right into the story while also getting to the know the characters. I was slightly unprepared for the changes in narrators after the first section, but quickly got into the groove and loved the change. It was nice to see every character’s story and interactions with the larger storyline. I think my favorite story was focused on Hipppolyta. Loved her adventure! I was sad to see the madness stop, but loved the ending so much. Just perfect!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Color Me In by Natasha Diaz

Title: Color Me In

Author: Natasha Diaz

Publisher: Ember 2020

Genre: YA Fiction

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme - October

Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom's family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time.

Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but because she inadvertently passes as white, her cousin thinks she's too privileged, pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices African Americans face on a daily basis. In the meantime, Nevaeh's dad decides that she should have a belated bat mitzvah instead of a sweet sixteen, which guarantees social humiliation at her posh private school. But rather than take a stand, Nevaeh does what she's always done when life gets complicated: she stays silent.

Only when Nevaeh stumbles upon a secret from her mom's past, finds herself falling in love, and sees firsthand the prejudice her family faces does she begin to realize she has her own voice. And choices. Will she continue to let circumstances dictate her path? Or will she decide once for all who and where she is meant to be?

I was very underwhelmed by this book. I loved the premise and was hoping for another The Poet X or Clap When You Land. Instead, we get a book with virtually no plot with underdeveloped characters and bad poetry. I wasn’t a fan of how other women were portrayed (very stereotypical villain types). I hated the father and mostly the mother. The ways in which Nevaeh oppresses others while whining about being oppressed really got to me. Overall, this was a very immature debut novel. Lots of interesting topics but not well executed.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Flight Vol. 1

Title: Flight Vol. 1

Author: Kazu Kibuishi

Publisher: Villard 2007

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 208

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Originally published by Image Comics in 2004, Flight, Volume One launched this graphic novel series with a resounding bang. Since then the Flight series has steadily increased in popularity–and now all of the Flight backlist will be coming to Villard!

Flight, Volume One received a great boost when graphic novel hero Scott McCloud praised the quality and artistry of the book in an afterward entitled THE YEAR COMICS TOOK FLIGHT. Little could readers know at the time how prophetic McCloud’s words would prove to be.

Random library find. I enjoyed this collection of stories all dealing with the concept of flight. The variety of styles and art was delightful. I read this in an enjoyable afternoon and am looking forward to reading volume two.

Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker

Title: Over the Woodward Wall

Author: A. Deborah Baker

Publisher: Tordotcom 2020

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 208

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Avery is an exceptional child. Everything he does is precise, from the way he washes his face in the morning, to the way he completes his homework – without complaint, without fuss, without prompt.

Zib is also an exceptional child, because all children are, in their own way. But where everything Avery does and is can be measured, nothing Zib does can possibly be predicted, except for the fact that she can always be relied upon to be unpredictable.

They live on the same street.
They live in different worlds.

On an unplanned detour from home to school one morning, Avery and Zib find themselves climbing over a stone wall into the Up and Under – an impossible land filled with mystery, adventure and the strangest creatures.

And they must find themselves and each other if they are to also find their way out and back to their own lives.

Oh goodness… This is definitely going onto my year-end Top 10 Reads! A new fun and twisty book from Seanan McGuire was just what I needed this week! Right away I got Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz vibes from this tale of two opposite children transported to a very improbable world. And those feelings kept getting stronger as the story progressed. I loved following Avery and Zib (hello A to Z!) as they attempt to escape the Up and Under, but ultimately find themselves and each other along the way. This is for fans of twisty fairy tales and nonsense worlds. I imagine that I will be pushing this book onto all my friends for the rest of the year.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Troop by Nick Cutter

Title: The Troop

Author: Nick Cutter

Publisher: Gallery Books 2016

Genre: Horror

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - NPR Horror

Once every year, Scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a weekend camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story around a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder stumbles upon their campsite—shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of terror. The human carrier of a bioengineered nightmare. A horror that spreads faster than fear. A harrowing struggle for survival with no escape from the elements, the infected…or one another.

This was a recommendation from one of my favorite podcasts: Currently Reading. And it is not for the feint of heart. This is hardcore body horror (but not in the trippy way like Mexican Gothic). This one is very gorey and made me say “ew” out loud many times. We get a mix of contagion horror with Lord of the Flies focused on five boys and one adult on an isolated island. From there, I basically knew how the story was going to devolve, but was all in for the ride. My biggest complaint was the fact that they allude to the ending about 75 pages from the ending. I would have rather have been surprised by the ending than guess based off of the clues. And i did have a few qualms about the back stories of the boys, especially Shelly. I was not really into adding a character like him into the story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lumberjanes Bonus Tracks

Title: Lumberjanes Bonus Tracks

Author: Holly Black, Faith Erin Hicks, Jen Wang, Gabby Rivera, Kelly Thompson, Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Brooklyn Allen, Grace Ellis, Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, Savana Ganucheau, Christine Norrie, Gaby Epstein

Publisher: BOOM! 2018

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 128

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Join April, Jo, Mal, Molly and Ripley as they explore their all-girls camp. From ghost ponies to strange plants, these Lumberjanes are ready to take on anything that comes their way as long as they have each other.

With stories written by Eisner Award-winner Faith Erin Hicks, and New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, these adventures are definitely something you don’t want to miss. Collecting all the Lumberjanes one-shots for the first time, Lumberjanes: Bonus Tracks has a star studded cast of talent that is just too good to pass up!

Super fun collection of one-off stories. I loved revisiting the Lumberjane girls before my library received the next trade for me to read. My favorite story ending up being the one set in the Renaissance Faire. Apparently those woods really do have everything you can imagine! Loved the take on the Robin Hood story.

The Address Book by Deirdre Mask

Title: The Address Book: What Street Addressed Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power

Author: Deirdre Mask

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2020

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme

When most people think about street addresses, if they think of them at all, it is in their capacity to ensure that the postman can deliver mail or a traveler won’t get lost. But street addresses were not invented to help you find your way; they were created to find you. In many parts of the world, your address can reveal your race and class.

In this wide-ranging and remarkable book, Deirdre Mask looks at the fate of streets named after Martin Luther King Jr., the wayfinding means of ancient Romans, and how Nazis haunt the streets of modern Germany. The flipside of having an address is not having one, and we also see what that means for millions of people today, including those who live in the slums of Kolkata and on the streets of London.

Filled with fascinating people and histories, The Address Book illuminates the complex and sometimes hidden stories behind street names and their power to name, to hide, to decide who counts, who doesn’t―and why.

Fascinating book about the history, future, and meaning of addresses. I loved the look at the importance of addresses around the world. I loved seeing how addresses affect daily life for people. At times this was a difficult book to read given the negative impact of not having an address, but it was a great examination of the topic.

Next up on the TBR pile:

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Title: There’s Someone Inside Your House

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton Books 2017

Genre: YA Thriller

Pages: 298

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: TBR Random

It's been almost a year since Makani Young came to live with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska, and she's still adjusting to her new life. And still haunted by her past in Hawaii.

Then, one by one, the students of her small town high school begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, Makani will be forced to confront her own dark secrets.

Random book from my TBR pile. I didn’t quite know what to expect but ended up really enjoying this teen slasher book. I loved how Perkins threw the audience right into the action. We start with a murder and don’t stop until the last page. She does a great job of creating realistic teen characters that actually act their age. (Seriously something that is often goes wrong in many young adult books.) There was enough jump scares and mystery to keep me interested in the plot. I really did not see the ending coming. Perkins sowed enough doubt that I was constantly questioning my own predictions. My biggest problem with the book was Makani’s dramatic backstory. It just seemed unnecessarily melodramatic. I think with a few tweaks, this could have been a 5 star book for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Magical Blend by Kennedy Layne

Title: Magical Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery #1)

Author: Kennedy Layne

Publisher: Kennedy Layne Publishing, Inc. 2018

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 145

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

An inherited tea shop, a quaint little Connecticut town, and its quirky residents have Raven Marigold believing her luck is about to change for the better. Of course, that was before she and her best friend found a dead body in the back of the charming store. Things go from bad to worse when Raven begins to hear a talking cat spouting on and on about magic and mayhem.

Once Raven accepts that she’s not losing her mind, she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation while discovering her family’s unusual lineage—the Marigolds are bona fide witches!

'Tis the season to be scared and delighted…this wickedly charming tale includes magical tea blends, an enchanting spell book, and an eerie cottage on the edge of town that contains a special surprise you won’t want to miss!

A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery

• #1 Magical Blend

• #2 Bewitching Blend

• #3 Enchanting Blend

• #4 Haunting Blend

• #5 Charming Blend

• #6 Spellbinding Blend

• #7 Cryptic Blend

• #8 Broomstick Blend

• #9 Spirited Blend

• #10 Yuletide Blend

• #11 Baffling Blend

• #12 Phantom Blend

• #13 Batty Blend

• #14 Pumpkin Blend

• #15 Frosty Blend

Next up on the TBR pile:

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Title: Sawkill Girls

Author: Claire Legrand

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 2018

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 464

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Goodreads Random; Monthly Theme - October

Who are the Sawkill Girls?

Marion: The newbie. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.

Zoey: The pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.

Val: The queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives; a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires. Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight…until now.

I was super excited to read this one based on the plot description. I loved the mystery of the monster and the Sawkill Rock. But very quickly, the identity of the monster is revealed. Okay, I can roll with that. It was kind of interesting to see the story from the perspective of the monster. And then a character is killed and I was hoping the mystery would continue. Unfortunately things devolved into a melodramatic teen romance. I just couldn’t get over Marion’s weak character. At the end of the book, I was just meh about everything. Not my cup of tea.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Last Flight by Julie Clark

Title: The Last Flight

Author: Julie Clark

Publisher: Sourcebooks 2020

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 320

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move, making sure she's living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.

A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets—Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

Borrowed this one from a friend. Thrillers are not usually my genre, but a friend recommended this one. I picked it up and basically couldn’t put it down. It was a ride from start to finish. I was desperate to find out the back stories of Claire and Eva, but especially Eva. Claire’s story felt a bit one note after awhile and it seemed like she was just doing half of the narration to reveal to the audience Eva’s story. I would have liked a bit more of a balanced narration. Beyond that, I felt like that was a too-convenient coincidence towards the end involving a few side characters. That made me roll my eyes. Overall, I did really enjoy reading this book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Well Played by Jen DeLuca

Title: Well Played (Well Met #2)

Author: Jen DeLuca

Publisher: Berkley 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 332

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it's been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she'll even find The One.
 
When Stacey imagined "The One," it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she's not sure what to make of it.
 
Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey's shock, it isn't Dex—she's been falling in love with a man she barely knows.

Oof a disappointment for me. I really did enjoy the first book in the series focusing on Simon and Emily. It was a fun rom-com romp. I was looking forward to the next installment, but this one really fell flat with me. I couldn’t find myself connecting with Stacey as a main character. She seemed like a flighty, shallow person constantly whining about her inability to get out of her hometown. And then we move onto the romance portion. The catfishing plot was just so incredibly predictable and yet the book just breezed past it once it was revealed. I couldn’t believe that Stacey didn’t spend any real time dealing with the deception. Finally we get to actual romance and I just wasn’t that interested in Stacey and Daniel as a couple. Blergh. I’m hoping the third book focused on Mitch and April is better.

Well Met

• #1 Well Met

• #2 Well Played

• #3 Well Matched

Next up on the TBR pile:

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

Title: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Author: Winifred Watson

Publisher: 1938

Genre: Classics

Pages: 234

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Modern Mrs. Darcy; Monthly Theme - May

Miss Pettigrew, an approaching-middle-age governess, was accustomed to a household of unruly English children. When her employment agency sends her to the wrong address, her life takes an unexpected turn. The alluring nightclub singer, Delysia LaFosse, becomes her new employer, and Miss Pettigrew encounters a kind of glamour that she had only met before at the movies. Over the course of a single day, both women are changed forever.

Such a delightful book. I remembered watching the movie version years back and enjoyed it. I hoped that the book would be just as delightful and thank goodness it was. I loved the comedy of errors and the witty banter. I kept waiting to see what silly situation Delysia and Guinevere found themselves in next. I just kept smiling through the entire book. I especially loved the encounters with Edythe and Tommy. Of course there are a few lines that are not at all appropriate to us now. Be forewarned. I kept having to remind myself that the book was written in 1938. Otherwise it was a lovely book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen

Title: The Last Mrs. Summers (Royal Spyness #14)

Author: Rhys Bowen

Publisher: Berkley 2020

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 300

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme - July

I am a bit at loose ends at the moment. My cook, Queenie, is making my new role as mistress of Eynsleigh something akin to constant torture as Darcy is off on another one of his top secret jaunts. And Grandad is busy helping wayward youths avoid lives of crime. So when my dearest friend, Belinda, inherits an old cottage in Cornwall and begs me to go with her to inspect the property, I jump at the chance.

After a heart-stopping journey in Belinda’s beast of a motorcar, we arrive at the creaky old cottage called White Sails and quickly realize that it is completely uninhabitable. Just when I’m starting to wonder if I would have been better off trying to get Queenie to cook a roast that hasn’t been burnt beyond all recognition, we meet Rose Summers, a woman Belinda knew as a child when she spent time in Cornwall. Rose invites us to stay at Trewoma Hall, the lovely estate now owned by her husband, Tony.

Belinda confesses that she never liked Rose and had a fling with Tony years ago, so staying with them is far from ideal but beggars can’t be choosers as they say. Trewoma is not the idyllic house Belinda remembers. There’s something claustrophobic and foreboding about the place. Matters aren’t helped by the oppressively efficient housekeeper Mrs. Mannering or by the fact that Tony seems to want to rekindle whatever he and Belinda once had right under his wife’s nose.

Our increasingly awkward visit soon turns deadly when a member of the household is found murdered and all clues point to Belinda as the prime suspect. I soon learn that some long buried secrets have come back to haunt those in residence at Trewoma Hall and I’ll need to sift through the ruins of their past so Belinda doesn’t lose her chance at freedom in the present. . . .

This was not my favorite of the series. Rating it as a stand-alone mystery, I would have given it 4 stars. I liked the more gothic approach to a murder mystery. I liked the new characters and the setting. But this is the 14th book in a series and it just doesn’t fit very well. All of our well-known characters are acting strangely. Many of our favorites were not present for this one. I disliked the relationship between Georgie and Belinda in this book. Georgie becomes a not-nice person when she spends a lot of time with Belinda. Talk about a toxic friend. I was hoping that we would get more of a partnership between Georgie and Darcy once married, but he’s off once again doing his “spy” work leaving Georgie alone. Not a fan. Really hoping the next book in the series returns to normal.

Her Royal Spyness:

• #0.5 Masked Ball at Broxley Manor

• #1 Her Royal Spyness

• #2 A Royal Pain

• #3 Royal Flush

• #4 Royal Blood

• #5 Naughty in Nice

• #6 The Twelve Clues of Christmas

• #7 Heirs and Graces

• #8 Queen of Hearts

• #9 Malice at the Palace

• #10 Crowned and Dangerous

• #11 On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service

• #12 Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding

• #13 Love and Death Among the Cheetahs

• #14 The Last Mrs. Summers

Next up on the TBR pile:

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Title: Sleeping Giants (The Themis Files #1)

Author: Sylvain Neuvel

Publisher: Del Rey 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 296

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme - August

A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

Our book club for this month and this was right up my alley. I loved diving right into the mystery of the robot parts. And from there, we get to meet some interesting characters. The unnamed narrator is most intriguing. I wonder if we ever get to know the identity of that person. Maybe in the second or third book, but definitely not in this one. I loved attempting to unravel the mystery alongside the various members of the team. As we got to know all the members of the team, I just wanted to know more about each one, especially Kara. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series.

The Themis Files

• #1 Sleeping Giants

• #2 Waking Gods

• #3 Only Human

Next up on the TBR pile: