Antonia's bookshelf: i-own en-US Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:18:24 -0700 60 Antonia's bookshelf: i-own 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Blue Monday (Frieda Klein #1) 13136647 Η ΜΕΡΑ ΠΟΥ ΞΥΠΝΗΣΑΝ ΤΑ ΠΙΟ ΣΚΟΤΕΙΝΑ ΕΝΣΤΙΚΤΑ...

Μία κοινωνία σοκαρισμένη.
Η φωτογραφία του μικρού Μάθιου στις εφημερίδες φάρος και ελπίδα στην αναζήτησή του.
Η ψυχοθεραπεύτρια Φρίντα Κλάιν ανήσυχη αντικρίζει την εικόνα του μικρού παιδιού και έρχονται στο νου της τα παράξενα και νοσηρά όνειρα ενός ασθενούς της. Όνειρα που περιγράφουν και με την παραμικρή λεπτομέρεια τα χαρακτηριστικά του παιδιού που τόσο λαχταρά να αποκτήσει ο ασθενής της. Εικόνες πανομοιότυπες�
Απλή σύμπτωση; Παιχνίδια του μυαλού; Ή υπάρχει έστω και η ελάχιστη πιθανότητα να σχετίζονται οι δύο υποθέσεις; Πώς μπορεί η Φρίντα να παραβιάσει το ιατρικό απόρρητο; Πόσο θα βοηθήσουν οι ψυχαναλυτικές γνώσεις της στην εξιχνίαση της υπόθεσης; Και πώς εμπλέκεται σε όλα αυτά μία απαγωγή που είχε γίνει είκοσι χρόνια πριν;
Η Φρίντα θα βρεθεί να πρωτοστατεί στον αγώνα δρόμου για τον εντοπισμό και τη σύλληψη του απαγωγέα. Μόνο που αυτός ο αγώνας δεν είναι μια κούρσα φυσικής αντοχής. Η Φρίντα πρέπει να κατεβεί ως τα πιο σκοτεινά μονοπάτια του μυαλού ενός ψυχοπαθούς, προκειμένου να βρει τις απαντήσεις για το αν ο Μάθιου είναι ζωντανός και πού μπορεί να βρίσκεται.

ΜΕΡΙΚΕΣ ΦΟΡΕΣ ΤΟ ΜΥΑΛΟ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΤΟ ΠΙΟ
ΕΠΙΚΙΝΔΥΝΟ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΧΑΣΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΕΑΥΤΟ ΣΟΥ

«Αν θέλουμε να μιλήσουμε για ψυχολογικά αστυνομικά μυθιστορήματα που πραγματικά μας συνταράζουν, τότε σίγουρα αυτό βρίσκεται στην κορυφή της πυραμίδας»
Daily Express


Η Nicci French συνθέτει ένα συγκλονιστικό και περίπλοκο ψυχολογικό παζλ γύρω από τη μνήμη και την κληρονομικότητα, με πολλές ανατροπές ώστε ο αναγνώστης μέχρι την τελευταία σελίδα να πασχίζει να μαντέψει την έκβαση και ποτέ να μην είναι σίγουρος. Αυτό το συναρπαστικό θρίλερ σίγουρα προοιωνίζεται ένα καλό μέλλον για ολόκληρη τη σειρά που θα ακολουθήσει, και πραγματικά δεν βλέπω την ώρα να διαβάσω περισσότερα γ' αυτή την τόσο απρόβλεπτη ηρωίδα, τη Φρίντα Κλάιν.
Camilla Läckberg, συγγραφέας του μπεστ -σέλλερ "Η Πριγκίπισσα των Πάγων" (The Ice Princess)]]>
560 Nicci French 9603644625 Antonia 4 i-own, favourites 3.66 2011 Blue Monday (Frieda Klein #1)
author: Nicci French
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2017/10/16
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: i-own, favourites
review:

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Count My Lies 217163871 A read-in-one-night suspense thriller narrated by a compulsive liar whose little white lies allow her to enter into the life and comfort of a wealthy married couple who are harboring much darker secrets themselves. For the millions of us still chasing those gone girls, this is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Lucy Foley, and Laura Dave.

Sloane Caraway is a liar.

Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting.

So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can't help herself—she tells the girl's (very attractive) dad she's a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl's foot.

With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.

But maybe Sloane isn't the only one lying, and all that's picture-perfect harbors a much more dangerous truth. To say anything more is to spoil the most exciting, twisty, and bitingly smart suspense novel to come out in years.

The thing about lies is that they add up, form their own truth and a twisted prison of a world. And in Count My Lies, Sophie Stava spins a breakneck, unputdownable thriller about the secrets we keep, and the terrifying dangers that lurk just under the images we spend so much time trying to maintain.

Careful what you lie for.]]>
336 Sophie Stava 1668092824 Antonia 3 3.93 2025 Count My Lies
author: Sophie Stava
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: i-own, mystery-suspense-horror
review:

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The Crash 216223604 The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.
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384 Freida McFadden 1464232989 Antonia 3 3.58 2025 The Crash
author: Freida McFadden
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: i-own, mystery-suspense-horror
review:

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Sleep, Death's Brother 32447052 Sleep, Death's Brother is an instruction manual on dreaming for children or incarcerated persons, teaching such individuals to lucid dream and thus use their dreams to somewhat escape their situations. While it is often the case that dream life is passively experienced, acclaimed novelist Jesse Ball (born 1978) reminds us that dreaming life is also a place where a sense of agency can grow. Even in the midst of physical or emotional environments that do not support such development in waking life, dreams are a place where one can take control. Ball calls for bravery in the exploration of this practice, and provides the dreamer with useful habits and techniques. Full of affirmation and wisdom, Sleep, Death's Brother is a guidebook -for all oneironauts young and old.-]]> 88 Jesse Ball 1945711027 Antonia 3 i-own 4.14 Sleep, Death's Brother
author: Jesse Ball
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Botticelli's Apprentice: A Graphic Novel]]> 214557456 This funny, empowering graphic novel from rising star Ursula Murray Husted is a gorgeously illustrated glimpse into the forgotten history of Renaissance Italy, following an ambitious young girl's quest to become an apprentice to the famous Sandro Botticelli.

Life as a chicken girl isn’t so bad, but Mella wants more. Though girls can’t be official apprentices to artists in Florence, Mella has been secretly teaching herself to paint while tending to artist Sandro Botticelli’s chickens.

When one of Botticelli’s actual apprentices discovers Mella’s work, he threatens to take full credit for it.Why does it matter who drew it if it’s good?

With the help of unexpected allies, an important patron, and a tenacious stray dog named Blue, Mella must summon all her courage, smarts, and skills to prove her worth and demand the recognition she deserves.]]>
272 Ursula Murray Husted 0063157934 Antonia 4 4.12 2025 Botticelli's Apprentice: A Graphic Novel
author: Ursula Murray Husted
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: i-own, graphic-novels-and-manga
review:

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<![CDATA[Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers' Rights]]> 214274182 A dazzling YA anthology that spotlights the transformative power of books while equipping teens to fight for the freedom to read, featuring the voices of 15 diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators.

Books are disappearing from shelves across the country.

What does this mean for authors, illustrators, and—most crucially—for young readers?

This bold collection of fiction, memoir, poetry, graphic narratives, essays, and other genres explores book bans through various lenses, and empowers teens to fight back. From moving personal accounts to clever comebacks aimed at censorship, fifteen legendary YA authors and illustrators confront the high-stakes question of what is lost when books are kept from teens.

Contributors include Elana K. Arnold, Nikki Grimes, Ellen Hopkins, Kelly Jensen, Brendan Kiely, Maia Kobabe, Bill Konigsberg, Kyle Lukoff, MariNaomi, Trung Lê Nguyễn, Ashley Hope Pérez, Isabel Quintero, Traci Sorell, Robin Stevenson, and Padma Venkatraman; the collection is a star-studded must-read that packs strength and power into every last word.

Striking illustrations from Ignatz-nominated artist Debbie Fong pair perfectly with the searing, impactful narrative. Resources include tips from the Vandegrift Banned Book Club and other teen activists, as well as extensive recommended book lists, a How to Start Your Own Little Free Library flier, and more.]]>
304 Ashley Hope Pérez 082345830X Antonia 4 i-own 4.57 2025 Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers' Rights
author: Ashley Hope Pérez
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Wings of Starlight (Disney Fairies)]]> 212808316 Brimming with magic and romance, a young fairy queen must form an unlikely alliance or risk an unspeakable danger destroying all she holds dear in this standalone YA novel from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft.

It’s been centuries since a warm-season fairy in Pixie Hollow has crossed into the Winter Woods, and while most fear the legends of monsters lurking in the frozen lands, Clarion, can’t help being intrigued by Winter’s stoic beauty. But under the watchful eyes of the current monarch and the court's seasonal ministers, Clarion has little time to dwell on daydreams while the days to her coronation dwindle away.

That is, until reports of a monster crossing from Winter into Spring make their way to the palace. Clarion sees defeating this threat as an opportunity to prove that she is worthy of her new role. But instead of finding a monster at the edge of Winter, she finds Milori, a young guardian of the Winter Woods. Together, they form an unlikely bond as they race to save their lands.

But as their alliance warms to something more, they will discover there is a reason a warm-season fairy and a winter fairy must not be together. And the cost could be just as deadly as the monsters that prowl the Winter Woods.

Discover the origin of the sweeping, star-crossed romance between the queen of Pixie Hollow and the lord of the Winter Woods.]]>
400 Allison Saft 1368098452 Antonia 4 i-own 4.25 2025 Wings of Starlight (Disney Fairies)
author: Allison Saft
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: i-own
review:

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Hard Times 15778981 Thomas Gradgrind is the guiding luminary of the Coketown school, stern proponent of the Philosophy of Fact, whose ill-conceived idealism blinds him to the essential humanity of those around him, with calamitous results. His daughter Louisa becomes trapped in a loveless marriage and falls prey to an idle seducer, and her brother Tom is ruined thanks to their father's pet theories. Meanwhile Sleary's circus offers a vision of escape and entertainment, a joyful contrast to the dreariness of life in Coketown. The hardship of the workers and the victimization of Stephen Blackpool are set against the exuberance of the circus people in Dickens's much-loved moral tale. Gradgrind is forced to reconsider his cherished system when he realizes that 'Facts alone' are not, after all, enough. (From the back cover)



Hard Times is Dickens's shortest novel, and arguably his greatest triumph. A useful appendix of the author's working notes, together with an enlightening introduction and full explanatory notes, will ensure that this edition becomes the obvious choice for anyone studying the novel. Paul Schlike is Lecturer in English at the University of Aberdeen.

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356 Charles Dickens 0141199563 Antonia 3 i-own 3.37 Hard Times
author: Charles Dickens
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.37
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/11
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: i-own
review:

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Diary of a Void 59238543 Discover this prizewinning, thrillingly subversive new novel that's perfect for fans of Convenience Store Woman and Breasts and Eggs.

For the sake of women everywhere, Ms Shibata is going to pull off the mother of all deceptions...

As the only woman in her office, Ms Shibata is expected to do all the menial tasks. One day she announces that she can't clear away her coworkers' dirty cups - because she's pregnant and the smell nauseates her. The only thing is . . . Ms Shibata is not pregnant.

Pregnant Ms Shibata doesn't have to serve coffee to anyone. Pregnant Ms Shibata isn't forced to work overtime. Pregnant Ms Shibata can rest, watch TV, take long baths, and even join an aerobics class for expectant mothers. But she has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Before long, it becomes all-absorbing, and with the help of towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app that tracks every stage of her 'pregnancy', the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve.

Diary of a Void will keep you turning the pages to see just how far Ms Shibata will go.]]>
213 Emi Yagi 1787302946 Antonia 5 favourites, i-own 3.50 2020 Diary of a Void
author: Emi Yagi
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: favourites, i-own
review:

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Old Soul 211178725
Following traces this mysterious person left behind, Jake travels from country to country gathering chilling testimonies from others who encountered her across the decades—a trail of shattered souls that eventually leads him to Theo, a dying sculptor in rural New Mexico, who knows the woman better than anyone—and might just hold the key to who, or what, she is.

Part horror, part western, part thriller, Old Soul is a fearlessly bold and genre-defying tale about predation, morality and free will, and one man’s quest to bring a centuries-long chain of human devastation to an end.]]>
336 Susan Barker 0593718291 Antonia 3 3.76 2025 Old Soul
author: Susan Barker
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/13
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: mystery-suspense-horror, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[The Good Mother Myth: Unlearning Our Bad Ideas About How to Be a Good Mom]]> 211003829 Timely and thought-provoking, Nancy Reddy unpacks and debunks the bad ideas that have for too long defined what it means to be a "good" mom.

When Nancy Reddy had her first child she found herself suddenly confronted with the ideal of a perfect mother—a woman who was constantly available, endlessly patient, and immediately invested in her child to the exclusion of all else. Reddy had been raised by a single working mother, considered herself a feminist, and was well on her way to a PhD. Why did doing motherhood "right" feel so wrong?

For answers Reddy turned to the mid-20th century social scientists and psychologists whose work still forms the basis of so much of what we believe about parenting. It seems ludicrous to imagine modern moms taking advice from mid-century researchers, yet their bad ideas about so-called “good� motherhood have seeped pervasively into our cultural norms. In The Good Mother Myth, Reddy debunks the flawed lab studies, sloppy research, and straightforward misogyny of researchers from Harry Harlow, who claimed to have discovered love by observing monkeys in his lab, to the famous Dr. Spock, whose bestselling parenting guide included just one illustration of a father interacting with his child. Blending history of science, cultural criticism, and memoir, The Good Mother Myth pulls back the curtain on the flawed social science behind our contemporary understanding of what makes a good mom.]]>
256 Nancy Reddy 1250336643 Antonia 4 i-own 3.66 2025 The Good Mother Myth: Unlearning Our Bad Ideas About How to Be a Good Mom
author: Nancy Reddy
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: i-own
review:

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Reading the Waves: A Memoir 216970872 The frank and revealing memoir of a writer who draws from her own creativity to heal.

"I believe our bodies are carriers of experience," Lidia Yuknavitch writes in her provocative memoir Reading the Waves. "I mean to ask if there is a way to read my own past differently, using what I have learned from how stories repeat and reverberate and release us from the tyranny of our mistakes, our traumas, and our confusions."

Drawing on her background -- her father's abuse, her complicated dynamic with her disabled mother, the death of her child, her sexual relationships with men and women -- and her creative life as an author and teacher, Yuknavitch has come to understand that by using the power of literature and storytelling to reframe her memories, she can loosen the bonds that have enslaved her emotional growth. Armed with this insight, she allows herself to look with the eye of an artist at the wounds she suffered and come to understand the transformational power this has to restore her soul.

By turns candid and lyrical, stoic and forgiving, blunt and evocative, Reading the Waves reframes memory toshow how crucial this process can be to gaining a deeper understanding of ourselves.]]>
224 Lidia Yuknavitch 0593713052 Antonia 5 favourites, i-own 4.40 2025 Reading the Waves: A Memoir
author: Lidia Yuknavitch
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: favourites, i-own
review:

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Perspective(s) 211934923 A pulse-quickening murder mystery set in Renaissance Florence by the renowned author of HHhH.

As dawn breaks over the city of Florence on New Year’s Day 1557, Jacopo da Pontormo is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart. Above him are the frescoes he labored over for more than a decade—masterpieces all, rivaling the works of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. When guards search his quarters, they find an obscene painting of Venus and Cupid—with the face of Venus replaced by that of Maria de� Medici, the Duke of Florence’s oldest daughter. The city erupts in chaos.

Who could have committed these murder and lèse-majesté? Giorgio Vasari, the great art historian, is picked to lead the investigation. Letters start to fly back and forth—between Maria and her aunt Catherine de� Medici, the queen of France; between Catherine and the scheming Piero Strozzi; and between Vasari and Michelangelo—carrying news of political plots and speculations about the identity of Pontormo’s killer. The truth, when it comes to light, is as shocking as the bold new artworks that have made Florence the red-hot center of European art and intrigue.

Bursting with characters and historical color, Laurent Binet’s Perspective(s) is a whodunit like no other—a labyrinthine murder mystery that shows us Renaissance Florence as we’ve never seen it before. This is a dark, dazzling, unforgettable read.]]>
272 Laurent Binet 0374614601 Antonia 4 i-own 3.90 2023 Perspective(s)
author: Laurent Binet
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour]]> 199793676 A rollicking, unforgettable romance about two strangers finding love despite their best efforts as they embark on a sweeping matchmaking tour through Việt Nam, perfect for readers of Carley Fortune and Abby Jimenez.

What’s a few weeks to a lifetime of promise?

Evie Lang’s life is in shambles. On the heels of losing her beloved aunt, she's unceremoniously fired from her poetry professorship by her secret boyfriend. Lacking income and inspiration, she's stuck in Ohio with no idea how to move forward—until hope arrives in a surprising letter.

Auntie Hảo left Evie the deed to her San Francisco row house, a place full of Evie’s happiest memories. The catch? To inherit, she must go on a pre-arranged matchmaking tour in Việt Nam. The last thing Evie wants is to spend time with a group of strangers looking for love. But she can't resist the chance to finally visit her family’s native home.

A world away, Adam Quyền has a chip on his shoulder. He’s working around the clock as CMO for his sister’s elite matchmaking business, a job complicated by her insistence that he knows nothing about love. He’s desperate to prove himself, so when she challenges him to join the inaugural tour, he reluctantly agrees.

Adam thinks Evie is chaotic and unpredictable. Evie thinks Adam is grumpy and uptight. But from the bustling streets of H� Chí Minh City to the soaring waterfalls in Đà Lạt, they keep getting thrown together, their animosity charged with attraction…and they discover that true love may be out there, if they are willing to take a leap.

Two stubborn hearts, one whirlwind adventure, Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour is a story of how loving (and living) bravely can lead you to the most unexpected places—and the most imperfectly perfect loves.]]>
304 Nora Nguyen 0063381508 Antonia 0 3.39 2024 Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour
author: Nora Nguyen
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: to-read, i-own, young-adult-books
review:

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Small Town Horror 199221815
Maybe this is a ghost story...

Andrew Larimer thought he left the past behind. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he finds he has no choice but to return home, and to confront the memories—and the horror—of a night, years ago, that changed everything.

For Andrew and his friends, the past is not dead, and the curse that has befallen them now threatens to destroy all that they've become.

One dark secret...

One small-town horror...]]>
400 Ronald Malfi 180336758X Antonia 2 3.86 2024 Small Town Horror
author: Ronald Malfi
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: i-own, mystery-suspense-horror
review:

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<![CDATA[The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom]]> 214151420 From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing.

Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface—Ruby’s wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.

As the family’s YouTube notoriety grew, so too did Ruby’s delusions of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.

Ruby and Jodi were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word: “Finally.�

For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family’s devastating involvement with Jodi Hildebrandt’s cultish life coaching program, “ConneXions.� No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother’s cruelty.]]>
320 Shari Franke 1668065398 Antonia 5 i-own 4.42 2025 The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom
author: Shari Franke
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: i-own
review:

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Art as Therapy 30212398 Two authorities on popular culture reveal the ways in which art can enhance mood and enrich lives - now available in paperback

This passionate, thought-provoking, often funny, and always-accessible book proposes a new way of looking at art, suggesting that it can be useful, relevant, and therapeutic. Through practical examples, the world-renowned authors argue that certain great works of art have clues as to how to manage the tensions and confusions of modern life. Chapters on love, nature, money, and politics show how art can help with many common difficulties, from forging good relationships to coming to terms with mortality.]]>
240 Alain de Botton 0714872784 Antonia 4 i-own 4.08 2013 Art as Therapy
author: Alain de Botton
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: i-own
review:

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The Ghost Road 37569920 Ghosts, a family curse, buried secrets -- and two girls who have to figure it all out. A new book from an acclaimed author, for fans of Coraline, Doll Bones and The Night Gardener.

For the first time, Ruth is heading to Newfoundland to stay with family she's never met instead of spending the summer traveling with her dad. When she arrives, she finds Newfoundland is very different from her life in Toronto--people there are much more friendly, but also superstitious, believing in ghosts and The Sight and family curses. Ruth's cousin Ruby is also staying for the summer, and the two discover they have a lot in common: they both lost their moms when they were two years old, they're the same age and they even like the same food. But while Ruby believes in spirits and fairies, Ruth believes in science and cold, hard facts.

When they find ominous information on some tombstones in the local cemetery, Ruth and Ruby start investigating their family's past and discover that twin girls are born in every generation, and every set of twins dies young, leaving their children without mothers. What's more, one of the twins always has The Sight and can see the Ghost Road that leads to the mysterious lost settlement of Slippers Cove. What happened there? What does it have to do with their family? And who is the ghostly presence that keeps visiting Ruth late at night?

The answers lie somewhere along the Ghost Road . . . if they can only find it.]]>
368 Charis Cotter 1101918896 Antonia 3 i-own 4.08 2018 The Ghost Road
author: Charis Cotter
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Rilke on Love (Warbler Press Contemplations Book 3)]]> 52820411 117 Rainer Maria Rilke 1734588136 Antonia 5 i-own, favourites 3.95 1975 Rilke on Love (Warbler Press Contemplations Book 3)
author: Rainer Maria Rilke
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: i-own, favourites
review:

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<![CDATA[Ασημένια φίδια και άλλα διηγήματα]]> 13488492
Ωμή απεικόνιση της καθημερινότητας και ποιητική πρόζα συνυπάρχουν αρμονικά στα μικρά αυτά πεζά, που ρίχνουν φως στις εμμονές του Ρίλκε και μας βοηθούν να κατανοήσουμε καλύτερα το ύστερο έργο του.]]>
207 Rainer Maria Rilke 9602832789 Antonia 3 i-own 3.86 1895 Ασημένια φίδια και άλλα διηγήματα
author: Rainer Maria Rilke
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1895
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: i-own
review:

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The Teller of Small Fortunes 207611551 A wandering fortune teller finds an unexpected family in this warm and wonderful debut fantasy, perfect for readers of Travis Baldree and Sangu Mandanna.

Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells "small" fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences�

Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.

Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past are closing in—and she’ll have to decide whether to risk everything to preserve the family she never thought she could have.]]>
336 Julie Leong 0593815912 Antonia 3 i-own 3.81 2024 The Teller of Small Fortunes
author: Julie Leong
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: i-own
review:

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I Was a Teenage Slasher 199798522 Lamesa, Texas, July 1989

It’s the summer before senior year for best friends Tolly Driver and Amber Dennison. They’re not in the marching band, they’re not in the FFA � they don’t really count. Amber’s the only Native student in town, and Tolly’s only on the radar due to his father’s recent death.

This is all about to change.

Bodies are going to be dropping fast in this small West Texas town. For a few unbearably hot days that will resonate through the decades and even get made into a TV movie, Tolly and Amber will be famous. Notorious even. Finally, everyone will know their names.

This is Stephen Graham Jones x-raying the slasher genre, interrogating its motivations over the shoulder and in the voice of the killer itself � from a town he did some growing up in, in a year he was also seventeen.

The kills will be poignant, the jokes will hurt, and the violence will be endearing. Everything’s turned around for Tolly, for Amber � for all of Lamesa, Texas.

Be happy you weren’t there.

Be happy you’re only reading about it.]]>
373 Stephen Graham Jones 1668022249 Antonia 5 3.54 2024 I Was a Teenage Slasher
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: i-own, mystery-suspense-horror, favourites
review:

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<![CDATA[The Serpent and the Wolf (Dark Inheritance Trilogy, #1)]]> 207297940 Perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy and Thea Guanzon, Rebecca Robinson’s thrilling romantasy debut combines high-stakes political intrigue and a steamy, slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance.

All her life, Vaasa Kozár has been sharpened into a blade.

After losing her mother—her only remaining parent—to a mysterious dark magic that has since awakened within her, Vaasa is certain death looms. So is her merciless brother, who aims to eliminate Vaasa as a threat to his crown. In one last political scheme, he marries her off to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, in hopes that he can use her death as a rallying cry to finally invade Reid’s nation. All Vaasa has to do is die.

But she is desperate to live. Vaasa enters her new marriage with every intent to escape it, wielding the hard-won political prowess and combat abilities her late father instilled in her. But to her surprise, Reid offers her a deal: help him win the votes to rise in power, and she can walk free. In exchange, he will share his knowledge about the dark magic running through her veins—and help keep it at bay.

This proposal may be too good to refuse, yet Vaasa and Reid’s undeniable attraction threatens to break the rules of their arrangement. As her brother’s lethal machinations take form, everything is at stake: Vaasa must learn to trust her new husband, but how can she, especially when their perfect political marriage begins to feel like the real thing?]]>
352 Rebecca Robinson 1668052482 Antonia 3 i-own 4.00 2024 The Serpent and the Wolf (Dark Inheritance Trilogy, #1)
author: Rebecca Robinson
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Billie Blaster and the Robot Army from Outer Space]]> 190125135 An out-of-this-world new middle-grade graphic novel about a genius scientist and her evil nemesis—from New York Times bestselling author Laini Taylor and cartoonist Jim Di Bartolo

Don’t you hate it when your archenemy launches your latest invention into space, accidentally creating a robot army that falls into the clutches of an evil alien emperor? Well, that’s how Billie Blaster’s day is going!

The genius child of two famous scientists, Billie is an inventor extraordinaire and the star of the annual science fair, much to the disgust of her nemesis, Tiny Hector Glum. But now their rivalry has gone too far, and the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance. Can Billie prevent an intergalactic war that’s kind of totally her fault? With her pet goat, Lucy, a giant robot head, and a toilet weasel from a distant planet, she might just stand a chance. Join them on their perilous adventure, in a spaceship without a bathroom.]]>
208 Laini Taylor 1419753843 Antonia 3 3.70 2023 Billie Blaster and the Robot Army from Outer Space
author: Laini Taylor
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: graphic-novels-and-manga, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)]]> 236093 Come along, Toto, she said. We will go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again.

Swept away from her home in Kansas by a tornado, Dorothy and her dog Toto find themselves stranded in the fantastical Land of Oz. As instructed by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins, Dorothy sets off on the yellow brick road to try and find her way to the Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz, who can help her get home. With her companions the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy experiences an adventure full of friendship, magic and danger. A much-loved children's classic, The Wizard of Oz continues to delight readers young and old with its enchanting tale of witches, flying monkeys and silver shoes.

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154 L. Frank Baum 0140621679 Antonia 4 i-own 4.00 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)
author: L. Frank Baum
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1900
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: i-own
review:

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The Answer Is No 219876684 In a hilarious short story from New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, the absurdities of modern life cause one man’s solitary world to spin suddenly, and comically, out of control.

Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone?

Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.

Told in Fredrik Backman’s singular witty style with sharply drawn characters and relatable antics, The Answer Is No is a laugh-out-loud portrait of a man struggling to keep to himself in a world that won’t leave him alone.]]>
68 Fredrik Backman 1662526520 Antonia 3 i-own 3.94 2024 The Answer Is No
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: i-own
review:

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Γράμματα σ' ένα νέο ποιητή 13001685 Γράμματα σε ένα νέο ποιητή πρωτοφάνηκαν στα 1929 με τον τίτλο Briefe an einen jungen Dichter. Ήταν δέκα γράμματα, που ο Rainer Rilke είχε στείλει απο τα 1903 ως τα 1908 σε έναν άγνωστό του νέο, τον Frankz Xaver Kappus, μαθητή της Στρατιωτικής Σχολής κι αργότερα ανθυπολοχαγό στρατού της Αυστροουγγαρίας.

Όπως ο ποιητής του Βιβλίου των Ωρών, έτσι κι ο Franz Kappus παράτησε σύντομα το στρατιωτικό στάδιο κι αφοσιώθηκε στη λογοτεχνία. Τα δέκα τούτα γράμματα δίνουν μια σύντομη, αλλά ουσιαστική, εικόνα της «Ποιητικής» του Ρίλκε και προπάντων, της καλλιτεχνικής «Ηθικής» του.]]>
110 Rainer Maria Rilke 9607233301 Antonia 5 i-own 4.37 1929 Γράμματα σ' ένα νέο ποιητή
author: Rainer Maria Rilke
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1929
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: i-own
review:

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Mexican Gothic 53117768
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]>
320 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 0525620796 Antonia 3 historical-fiction, i-own 3.64 2020 Mexican Gothic
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/08/05
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: historical-fiction, i-own
review:

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We Called Them Giants 210999862 We Called Them Giants is a story of communication across a chasm at the end of the world.

Lori wakes to find the streets empty. Everyone has gone. Or at least, nearly everyone. She’s thrown into a world where she has to scrape by in the ruins of civilization, nearly starving, hiding from gangs when�

They arrive.

The award-winning team behind dark fantasy smash DIE release their first stand alone original graphic novel.]]>
104 Kieron Gillen 1534387072 Antonia 3 3.57 2024 We Called Them Giants
author: Kieron Gillen
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: graphic-novels-and-manga, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[The Third Chimpanzee for Young People: On the Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (For Young People Series)]]> 22035617
With fascinating facts and his unparalleled readability, Diamond intended his book to improve the world that today’s young people will inherit. Triangle Square’s The Third Chimpanzee for Young People is a book for future generation and the future they’ll help build.


From the Hardcover edition.]]>
256 Jared Diamond 1609805232 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.39 1991 The Third Chimpanzee for Young People: On the Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (For Young People Series)
author: Jared Diamond
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[My Vampire Plus-One (My Vampires, #2)]]> 204640539
Amelia Collins is by definition successful. She would even go so far as to say successfully single. But not according to her family, and she’s tired of the constant questions about her nonexistent dating life. When an invitation to yet another family wedding arrives, she decides to get everyone off her back once and for all by finding someone–anyone–to pose as her date.

After a chance encounter with Reginald Cleaves, Amelia decides he’s perfect for her purposes. He’s a bit strange, but that’s fine; it’ll discourage tough questions from her family. (And it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s very handsome.) For centuries-old vampire Reggie, posing as her plus-one sounds like the ultimate fun. And if it helps his ruse of pretending to be human, so much the better.

As Amelia and Reggie practice their fauxmance, it becomes clear that Reggie is as loyal to her as the day is long, and that Amelia’s first impressions could not have been more wrong. Suddenly, being in a real relationship with Reggie sounds pretty fang-tastic.]]>
372 Jenna Levine 0593548930 Antonia 3 contemporary-books, i-own 3.73 2024 My Vampire Plus-One (My Vampires, #2)
author: Jenna Levine
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves: contemporary-books, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[My Roommate Is a Vampire (My Vampires, #1)]]> 60041932 True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean...

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.]]>
341 Jenna Levine 0593548914 Antonia 4 contemporary-books, i-own 3.46 2023 My Roommate Is a Vampire (My Vampires, #1)
author: Jenna Levine
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves: contemporary-books, i-own
review:

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Incidents Around the House 199757490 A chilling horror novel about a haunting told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,� from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box

To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’sMommy,Daddo,and Grandma Ruth.But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?”�

When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the same question, over and over . . . Bela understands that unless she says yes, soon her family must pay.

Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe but other incidents show cracks in her parents' marriage. The safety Bela relies on is on the brink of unraveling.

But Other Mommy needs an answer.

Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror told by the child Bela. A story about a family as haunted as their home.]]>
367 Josh Malerman 0593723120 Antonia 4 3.61 2024 Incidents Around the House
author: Josh Malerman
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves: mystery-suspense-horror, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[She Followed the Moon Back to Herself]]> 207294764 the tenth poetry collection from amanda lovelace deviates from the well-worn path of fairy tales & myths, instead bringing readers face to face with the person behind the poems that have made her beloved.

from bestselling poetess amanda lovelace comes she followed the moon back to herself, an autobiographical standalone poetry collection that follows a woman who—through heartbreak, bottles of rosé, & the general messiness of life—felt like she completely lost who she was. each bitesize poem shines a light on where she’s been & how she’s managed to overcome it all, offering a dose of hope & moondust to all who join her on the journey back to herself.]]>
208 Amanda Lovelace 1524890030 Antonia 5 i-own, favourites 3.92 2024 She Followed the Moon Back to Herself
author: Amanda Lovelace
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: i-own, favourites
review:

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<![CDATA[The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3)]]> 22724766 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]>
592 Deborah Harkness 0698163478 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.01 2014 The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/11
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Practical Magic (Practical Magic, #1)]]> 1366745 New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman.

For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape.

One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back—almost as if by magic...
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280 Alice Hoffman 033034384X Antonia 5 i-own, favourites 3.59 1995 Practical Magic (Practical Magic, #1)
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves: i-own, favourites
review:

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Elite (Eagle Elite, #1) 17729036
The students at Eagle Elite are unlike any she's ever met . . . and they refuse to make things easy for her. There's Nixon, gorgeous, irresistible, and leader of a group that everyone fears: The Elect. Their rules are simple. 1. Do not touch The Elect. 2. Do not look at The Elect. 3. Do not speak to The Elect. No matter how hard she tries to stay away, The Elect are always around her and it isn't long until she finds out the reason why they keep their friends close and their enemies even closer. She just didn't realize she was the enemy -- until it was too late.

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322 Rachel Van Dyken 0989078329 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own, netgalley 4.07 2013 Elite (Eagle Elite, #1)
author: Rachel Van Dyken
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: to-read, i-own, netgalley
review:

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Oona Out of Order 49931447 It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens thirty-two years in the future in her fifty-one-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. And so begins Oona Out of Order

Hopping through decades, pop culture fads, and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Who will she be next year? Philanthropist? Club Kid? World traveler? Wife to a man she’s never met?

Oona Out of Order is a remarkably inventive novel that explores what it means to live a life fully in the moment, even if those moments are out of sequence. Surprising, magical, and heart-wrenching, Montimore has crafted an unforgettable story about the burdens of time, the endurance of love, and the power of family.

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329 Margarita Montimore 1250236592 Antonia 4 contemporary-books, i-own 3.92 2020 Oona Out of Order
author: Margarita Montimore
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/01
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: contemporary-books, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond]]> 38231955 352 Jaime Jo Wright 1493414739 Antonia 4 4.22 2018 The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond
author: Jaime Jo Wright
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/09/01
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: mystery-suspense-horror, i-own
review:

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Rock Paper Scissors 57026221 Think you know the person you married? Think again�

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts � paper, cotton, pottery, tin � and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

Rock Paper Scissors is the latest exciting domestic thriller from the queen of the killer twist, New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney.]]>
297 Alice Feeney 1250266114 Antonia 4 3.95 2021 Rock Paper Scissors
author: Alice Feeney
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/07
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: contemporary-books, i-own, mystery-suspense-horror
review:

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<![CDATA[Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine]]> 19170275 306 Randolph M. Nesse 0307816001 Antonia 4 i-own, favourites 4.11 1994 Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine
author: Randolph M. Nesse
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2015/10/16
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: i-own, favourites
review:

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<![CDATA[For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)]]> 13368650
Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth-an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret-one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen's persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.]]>
416 Diana Peterfreund 0062114379 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.87 2012 For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars, #1)
author: Diana Peterfreund
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[A Book of Spirits and Thieves (Spirits and Thieves, #1)]]> 23281737 New York Times bestselling author Morgan Rhodes takes readers into exhilarating new high-fantasy territory with A BOOK OF SPIRITS AND THIEVES, an epic contemporary saga perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander.

The lives of Toronto teens Crystal and Becca Hatcher revolve around helping their mother out at the family’s used bookstore, The Speckled Muse. It’s a relatively uneventful after-school job, until an package arrives addressed to her mother, Julia. Thinking it’s nothing more than run-of-the-mill inventory, Becca opens it and removes the book inside, unwittingly triggering an ancient magic and intertwining their fates with the powers that flow from the mysterious leather-bound book. Two parallel worlds collide and Becca is left in a catatonic state after her spirit is snatched from modern-day Toronto back to the ancient world of Mytica. Crys is guilt-ridden, having witnessed the entire event, and vows to do whatever is necessary to save her� but from what? Nothing has prepared them for what’s in store.

Written in alternating perspectives that shift between modern-day Toronto and the ancient kingdoms of Mytica, Rhodes delivers a rich and suspensful series opener that will leave readers breathless.]]>
365 Morgan Rhodes 0698148142 Antonia 4 3.95 2015 A Book of Spirits and Thieves (Spirits and Thieves, #1)
author: Morgan Rhodes
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/12/01
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own, young-adult-books, favourites
review:

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<![CDATA[Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #9)]]> 10853750
When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide � just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.]]>
513 J.R. Ward 1101513470 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.37 2011 Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #9)
author: J.R. Ward
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination]]> 24688553
Drawing from stories of her own post-graduate years, the world-famous author addresses some of life's most important issues with acuity and emotional force.

Sales of Very Good Lives will benefit Lumos, a charity organisation founded by J.K. Rowling, which works to transform the lives of disadvantaged children, and university-wide financial aid at Harvard University.]]>
81 J.K. Rowling 0316369144 Antonia 5 i-own, favourites 4.27 2015 Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2017/01/20
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own, favourites
review:

]]>
Beauty Queens 11299983
What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program--or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan--or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.]]>
405 Libba Bray 0545388716 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.66 2011 Beauty Queens
author: Libba Bray
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[The Summer Garden (The Bronze Horseman, #3)]]> 11196760 755 Paullina Simons 0062087975 Antonia 0 4.30 2005 The Summer Garden (The Bronze Horseman, #3)
author: Paullina Simons
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, i-own
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, #1)]]> 22840421 This comical, fantastical, romantical, New York Times bestselling, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is “an uproarious historical fantasy that’s not to be missed� (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.

Like that could go wrong.]]>
474 Cynthia Hand 0062391798 Antonia 0 4.00 2016 My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, #1)
author: Cynthia Hand
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, young-adult-books, historical-fiction, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[So Much I Want to Tell You: Letters to My Little Sister]]> 34323336 From Internet sensation Anna Akana comes a candid and poignant collection of essays about love, loss, and chasing adulthood. In 2007, Anna Akana lost her teen sister, Kristina, to suicide. In the months that followed, she realized that the one thing helping her process her grief and begin to heal was comedy. So she began making YouTube videos as a form of creative expression and as a way to connect with others. Ten years later, Anna has more than a million subscribers who watch her smart, honest vlogs on her YouTube channel. Her most popular videos, including “How to Put On Your Face� and “Why Girls Should Ask Guys Out,� are comical and provocative, but they all share a deeper Your worth is determined by you and you alone. You must learn to love yourself. In So Much I Want to Tell You, Anna opens up about her own struggles with poor self-esteem and reveals both the highs and lows of coming-of-age. She offers fresh, funny, hard-won advice for young women on everything from self-care to money to sex, and she is refreshingly straightforward about the realities of dating, female friendship, and the hustle required to make your dreams come true. This is Anna’s story, but, as she says, it belongs just as much to Kristina and to every other girl who must learn that growing up can be hard to do. Witty and real, Anna breaks things down in a way only a big sister can.Praise for So Much I Want to Tell You“This book is filled with the kind of honesty, vulnerability, and determination that makes Anna such a captivating person. One You’ll want to hug her a lot while reading this.�—Natalie Tran, actress and comedian “As a woman working in entertainment, Anna Akana is accustomed to feeling vulnerable. Which means that she’s used to being brave. This book is a tribute to the duality of bravery and fear as told through Anna’s experiences to date.�—Hannah Hart, New York Times bestselling author of Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded “Frank advice on how to live a productive, happy life . . . written in tribute to a ‘fearless, talented, and bold� sister.�—Kirkus Reviews]]> 146 Anna Akana 0399594922 Antonia 4 i-own 3.93 2017 So Much I Want to Tell You: Letters to My Little Sister
author: Anna Akana
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2018/04/21
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 535 Easy(ish) Steps]]> 40883528 From breaking up with frenemies to fixing your toilet, this way fun comprehensive handbook is the answer for aspiring grown-ups of all ages.If you graduated from college but still feel like a student . . . if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store . . . if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean . . . it's OK. But it doesn't have to be this way.Just because you don't feel like an adult doesn't mean you can't act like one. And it all begins with this funny, wise, and useful book. Based on Kelly Williams Brown's popular blog, Adultingmakes the scary, confusing "real world" approachable, manageable—and even conquerable. This guide will help you to navigate the stormy Sea of Adulthood so that you may find safe harbor in Not Running Out of Toilet Paper Bay, and along the way you will to check for when renting a new apartment—not just the nearby bars, but the faucets and stove, among other things.When a busy person can find time to learn more about the world (It involves the intersection of NPR and hair-straightening.)How to avoid hooking up with anyone in your office—imagine your coworkers having plastic, featureless doll crotches. It helps.The secret to finding a mechanic you love—or, more realistically, one that will not rob you blind.]]> 330 Kelly Williams Brown 1455516899 Antonia 4 favourites, i-own 3.58 2013 Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 535 Easy(ish) Steps
author: Kelly Williams Brown
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/05/10
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: favourites, i-own
review:

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Matched (Matched, #1) 8886579
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.]]>
384 Ally Condie 1101445440 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.56 2010 Matched (Matched, #1)
author: Ally Condie
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet, #1)]]> 34967819
One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again.

But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them.

The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?]]>
368 Roshani Chokshi 136801738X Antonia 4 i-own 4.30 2018 Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet, #1)
author: Roshani Chokshi
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/05/01
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock, #1)]]> 29918785 New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery� (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware—this time, set at sea.

In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong�

With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.]]>
350 Ruth Ware 1501132946 Antonia 3 “We all have demons inside us, voices that whisper we’re no good, that if we don’t make this promotion or ace that exam we’ll reveal to the world exactly what kind of worthless sacks of skin and sinew we really are.�

Hello, beautiful readers, how are you all? I'm back with a review of a book that I read in less than a day and left me with my heart racing rapidly the whole time I was reading it. I'm a huge lover of Thriller and Suspense stories, so this book was right up my alley. I didn't particularly like the previous book, "In A Dark, Dark Wood", by Ruth Ware but I wrote a review here, which you can read if you want. I hope you'll enjoy reading my thoughts and feel free to comment on any part you like. Let's begin!

Information on the book:
Pages count: 352
Publication date: July 19th, 2016
Publishing company: Gallery/Scout Press
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Mental Health

My rating: 3/5 stars

ŷ Summary:

From New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery� (Vulture) novel "In a Dark, Dark Wood", comes "The Woman in Cabin 10", an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware -this time set at sea.

In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for and so the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong�

With surprising twists and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read.


My Thoughts

Plot

When it comes to the plot of the book, I must admit I was equally satisfied and disappointed by the way things turned out. Up to 50% of the story nothing substantial and extremely mind-blowing happened and I was somewhat bored. I liked the psychological aspect of the main protagonist's, Lo's, thoughts and actions but the story kept moving in circles and some of Lo's words and thoughts became repetitive. Some chapters kept dragging on and on without revealing something truly important for the story and the characters. Towards the end of the book, though, the story became action-packed and I really liked the ending. The ending must be my most favourite part of this book. Overall, the core of the story was particularly interesting and kept me guessing up until the very end. But the length of Lo's fight to uncover the truth didn't leave me as intrigued as I expected to be.


Characters

I think the ace of this book was its characters. It was more of a character-driven story than a plot-driven one. I generally liked Lo as a main protagonist more than I liked the main character of Ware's debut novel, "In A Dark, Dark Wood". I think she acted logically for the biggest part of the story and her actions were, for the most part, justifiable and understandable. I didn't catch myself screaming in frustration every time a chapter came to an end, as I often did while I was reading "In A Dark, Dark Wood". I've personally suffered from anxiety and PTSD myself and the way Ruth Ware portrayed these aspects of mental health were on point, I could easily relate to them. Lo's honesty was touching and I could easily imagine myself becoming friends for her if she was a real person and not a fictional character. Judah, as the love interest, was really cute and amazing as well. The "villain" of the story was also executed very well and I wouldn't have guessed who it was, the revelation caught me totally by surprise. Carrie (not a spoiler, only if you've read the book you'll understand the person I'm talking about) was a really interesting character too. I must admit I liked the characters in this book and I think Ruth Ware did a fantastic job with them.


Writing Style, Dialogues, Quotes

When it comes to the written techniques of the book, I'm of the opinion that Ruth Ware has truly evolved as an author since her debut novel. The dialogues were vivid, beautiful and flowed naturally. The way each chapter came to an end and the next one began made the story progress beautifully, though somewhat slowly. Ruth Ware uses relatively short desciptions of the landscape, the boat where the whole story takes place in, and the remaining surroundings, but she has the talent of creating memorable images to her readers' minds. I think she succeeded in making this story a lot more interesting than the one that took place in the book "In A Dark, Dark Wood". I think her next book will be even more perfectly written.


General Comments

Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. It wasn't a total masterpiece, but don't be fooled by my rating, I truly enjoyed it. The things that lowered my rating were its length and some of the plot twists that seemed convenient, in lack of a better word. The characters were appealing and the woman in cabin 10 made my heart accelerate until the big revelation took place. I'll definitely read any other books by Ruth Ware that will be released in the future, I think she's going to evolve into an even better author. This book, in my humble opinion at least, was much, much better than her debut novel. I recommend it to lovers of Thriller/Mystery/Suspense stories. It's not the most gripping story out there, but it's definitely an unforgettable one.


That is all with this review, beautiful book lovers. I hope you enjoyed reading it and were intrigued to read this book, at least a little bit. Surely, it wasn't the best book I've ever read but I was pleasantly surprised by it. Read it if you like the genres I mentioned before. And don't forget to talk to me in the comments section below if you've already read this story. Happy reading and endless bookish hugs! ]]>
3.80 2016 The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock, #1)
author: Ruth Ware
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2017/02/03
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own, mystery-suspense-horror
review:
“We all have demons inside us, voices that whisper we’re no good, that if we don’t make this promotion or ace that exam we’ll reveal to the world exactly what kind of worthless sacks of skin and sinew we really are.�

Hello, beautiful readers, how are you all? I'm back with a review of a book that I read in less than a day and left me with my heart racing rapidly the whole time I was reading it. I'm a huge lover of Thriller and Suspense stories, so this book was right up my alley. I didn't particularly like the previous book, "In A Dark, Dark Wood", by Ruth Ware but I wrote a review here, which you can read if you want. I hope you'll enjoy reading my thoughts and feel free to comment on any part you like. Let's begin!

Information on the book:
Pages count: 352
Publication date: July 19th, 2016
Publishing company: Gallery/Scout Press
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Mental Health

My rating: 3/5 stars

ŷ Summary:

From New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery� (Vulture) novel "In a Dark, Dark Wood", comes "The Woman in Cabin 10", an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware -this time set at sea.

In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for and so the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong�

With surprising twists and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read.


My Thoughts

Plot

When it comes to the plot of the book, I must admit I was equally satisfied and disappointed by the way things turned out. Up to 50% of the story nothing substantial and extremely mind-blowing happened and I was somewhat bored. I liked the psychological aspect of the main protagonist's, Lo's, thoughts and actions but the story kept moving in circles and some of Lo's words and thoughts became repetitive. Some chapters kept dragging on and on without revealing something truly important for the story and the characters. Towards the end of the book, though, the story became action-packed and I really liked the ending. The ending must be my most favourite part of this book. Overall, the core of the story was particularly interesting and kept me guessing up until the very end. But the length of Lo's fight to uncover the truth didn't leave me as intrigued as I expected to be.


Characters

I think the ace of this book was its characters. It was more of a character-driven story than a plot-driven one. I generally liked Lo as a main protagonist more than I liked the main character of Ware's debut novel, "In A Dark, Dark Wood". I think she acted logically for the biggest part of the story and her actions were, for the most part, justifiable and understandable. I didn't catch myself screaming in frustration every time a chapter came to an end, as I often did while I was reading "In A Dark, Dark Wood". I've personally suffered from anxiety and PTSD myself and the way Ruth Ware portrayed these aspects of mental health were on point, I could easily relate to them. Lo's honesty was touching and I could easily imagine myself becoming friends for her if she was a real person and not a fictional character. Judah, as the love interest, was really cute and amazing as well. The "villain" of the story was also executed very well and I wouldn't have guessed who it was, the revelation caught me totally by surprise. Carrie (not a spoiler, only if you've read the book you'll understand the person I'm talking about) was a really interesting character too. I must admit I liked the characters in this book and I think Ruth Ware did a fantastic job with them.


Writing Style, Dialogues, Quotes

When it comes to the written techniques of the book, I'm of the opinion that Ruth Ware has truly evolved as an author since her debut novel. The dialogues were vivid, beautiful and flowed naturally. The way each chapter came to an end and the next one began made the story progress beautifully, though somewhat slowly. Ruth Ware uses relatively short desciptions of the landscape, the boat where the whole story takes place in, and the remaining surroundings, but she has the talent of creating memorable images to her readers' minds. I think she succeeded in making this story a lot more interesting than the one that took place in the book "In A Dark, Dark Wood". I think her next book will be even more perfectly written.


General Comments

Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. It wasn't a total masterpiece, but don't be fooled by my rating, I truly enjoyed it. The things that lowered my rating were its length and some of the plot twists that seemed convenient, in lack of a better word. The characters were appealing and the woman in cabin 10 made my heart accelerate until the big revelation took place. I'll definitely read any other books by Ruth Ware that will be released in the future, I think she's going to evolve into an even better author. This book, in my humble opinion at least, was much, much better than her debut novel. I recommend it to lovers of Thriller/Mystery/Suspense stories. It's not the most gripping story out there, but it's definitely an unforgettable one.


That is all with this review, beautiful book lovers. I hope you enjoyed reading it and were intrigued to read this book, at least a little bit. Surely, it wasn't the best book I've ever read but I was pleasantly surprised by it. Read it if you like the genres I mentioned before. And don't forget to talk to me in the comments section below if you've already read this story. Happy reading and endless bookish hugs!
]]>
Love Me Not (Helen Grace, #7) 32738728 A desperate young woman runs through the storm. She hares up the path, hammering desperately on the front door, crying for help. The startled owner opens the door, ushers her inside, promising her whatever assistance she needs. This fateful decision will be his last. He should never have opened the door...

A middle aged couple are found brutally murdered in their ransacked suburban house. Helen Grace, now back at Southampton Central following her release from prison, is first on the scene. The crime is baffling, hideous, cruel, but before Helen can process the evidence, another double murder is reported - identical in almost every way to the first. What follows is the darkest, most dangerous night of Helen's life as a sequence of brutal home invasions takes place. By sunrise eight people will be dead and Helen may well be the ninth as she finds herself locked on a collision course with a pair of rampaging spree killers. Is there method in their madness? Or are they selecting their victims at random? It falls to Helen to wrestle with these questions - only by answering them can she end the bloodshed.

A break neck thriller which takes place in real time over 24 hours, this is the sharpest, most adrenliased Helen Grace thriller yet.

]]>
368 M.J. Arlidge 1405925647 Antonia 4 i-own 4.35 2017 Love Me Not (Helen Grace, #7)
author: M.J. Arlidge
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2017/07/01
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own
review:

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The Serpent King 29410627 Longlisted for the Carnegie MedalWinner of the American Library Association Morris Award for best debut YAWinner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult FictionA Buzzfeed Best of 2016 book ŷ Choice Awards finalistA Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2016Publishers Weekly Best of 2016Dill is a misfit in his small, religious Tennessee town. His dad is in prison for a shocking crime, and his mom is struggling to make ends meet. The only things getting Dill through senior year are his guitar and his fellow outcasts, Travis and Lydia. Travis is an oddball who finds comfort from his violent home life in an epic fantasy book series. And Lydia is like no one fast-talking, creative and fiercely protective. Dill fears his heart will break when she escapes to a better life elsewhere. What Dill needs now is some bravery to tell Lydia how he feels, to go somewhere with his music � and to face the hardest test of all when tragedy strikes.]]> 384 Jeff Zentner 1448188245 Antonia 0 4.18 2016 The Serpent King
author: Jeff Zentner
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own, contemporary-books, young-adult-books
review:

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Tender Is the Flesh 53583568 Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.� Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.]]>
224 Agustina Bazterrica 1982151307 Antonia 4 i-own, favourites 3.82 2017 Tender Is the Flesh
author: Agustina Bazterrica
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/12
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own, favourites
review:

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<![CDATA[Fire Falling (Air Awakens, #2)]]> 32800816
Vhalla Yarl marches to war as property of the Solaris Empire. The Emperor counts on her to bring victory, the Senate counts on her death, and the only thing Vhalla can count on is the fight of her life. As she grapples with the ghosts of her past, new challenges in the present threaten to shatter the remnants of her fragile sanity. Will she maintain her humanity? Or will she truly become the Empire's monster?]]>
380 Elise Kova 1619849518 Antonia 5 i-own, young-adult-books 4.26 2015 Fire Falling (Air Awakens, #2)
author: Elise Kova
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2017/02/12
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own, young-adult-books
review:

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<![CDATA[Breakable (Contours of the Heart, #2)]]> 18815145 He was lost and alone. Then he found her.
And the future seemed more fragile than ever.

As a child, Landon Lucas Maxfield believed his life was perfect and looked forward to a future filled with promise � until tragedy tore his family apart and made him doubt everything he ever believed.

All he wanted was to leave the past behind. When he met Jacqueline Wallace, his desire to be everything she needed came so easy�

As easy as it could be for a man who learned that the soul is breakable and that everything you hoped for could be ripped away in a heartbeat.]]>
366 Tammara Webber 1101618388 Antonia 4 i-own
I must say I fairly enjoyed this book, but not as much as the first one. This book was about Lucas's (or Landon's) story, his damaged past, and his fragile future. It was about his demons, his attempts to fight them and how he slowly heals himself with Jacqueline's help through love. The readers will learn more about Lucas's relationship with his father, will take a deeper and darker look at what happened to his beloved mother and will fall even more in love with him by discovering his truly angelic nature. Tammara Webber didn't disappoint me, neither when it came to the development of her characters, nor when it came to her writing style, she certainly knows how to write a story with a good plot and really interesting characters.
Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. I loved it, and the only thing I didn't exquisitely enjoy was the change of narrating between Landon and Lucas. I don't know why, but it confused me from time to time. I found Landon's point of view a bit boring until about the middle of the book when I became much more interested in his life before going to college and meeting Jacqueline. I recommend this duology to mostly girls, but boys too, who love the New-Adult genre and stories about tormented characters that give their own wars to make their souls feel safer, less traumatized, more hopeful.]]>
4.16 2014 Breakable (Contours of the Heart, #2)
author: Tammara Webber
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/10/28
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own
review:
"Breakable" was a great journey for me, just like the first book, "Easy", of the duology was. A story that will burn itself into your mind for many years to come.

I must say I fairly enjoyed this book, but not as much as the first one. This book was about Lucas's (or Landon's) story, his damaged past, and his fragile future. It was about his demons, his attempts to fight them and how he slowly heals himself with Jacqueline's help through love. The readers will learn more about Lucas's relationship with his father, will take a deeper and darker look at what happened to his beloved mother and will fall even more in love with him by discovering his truly angelic nature. Tammara Webber didn't disappoint me, neither when it came to the development of her characters, nor when it came to her writing style, she certainly knows how to write a story with a good plot and really interesting characters.
Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. I loved it, and the only thing I didn't exquisitely enjoy was the change of narrating between Landon and Lucas. I don't know why, but it confused me from time to time. I found Landon's point of view a bit boring until about the middle of the book when I became much more interested in his life before going to college and meeting Jacqueline. I recommend this duology to mostly girls, but boys too, who love the New-Adult genre and stories about tormented characters that give their own wars to make their souls feel safer, less traumatized, more hopeful.
]]>
Comfort Me With Apples 56892352 A terrifying new thriller from bestseller Catherynne M. Valente, for fans of Gone Girl and Spinning Silver

Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect.

It's just that he's away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect.

But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband's face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can't quite meet her gaze...

But everything is perfect. Isn't it?]]>
112 Catherynne M. Valente 1250816203 Antonia 0 3.60 2021 Comfort Me With Apples
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own, mystery-suspense-horror
review:

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<![CDATA[The New World (Chaos Walking, #1.5)]]> 9412471 25 Patrick Ness 0763656496 Antonia 4 i-own So short, but still extremely action-packed. A beautiful addition to the already perfect enough Chaos Walking trilogy.]]> 3.89 2010 The New World (Chaos Walking, #1.5)
author: Patrick Ness
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2012/07/22
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own
review:
A short and thrilling story about Viola's journey before, and as soon as, she landed on The New World. We catch a glimpse of what happened before the ship took off for its journey, some images of The Old World that Viola lived for almost thirteen years and what happened, what went wrong, and she, her mother and her father couldn't land safely.
So short, but still extremely action-packed. A beautiful addition to the already perfect enough Chaos Walking trilogy.
]]>
Possession (Possession, #1) 9939467
But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them�.starting by brainwashed Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers� hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous: everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.]]>
416 Elana Johnson 1442423919 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.52 2011 Possession (Possession, #1)
author: Elana Johnson
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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Opal (Lux, #3) 16225653 No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well� There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different� And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger� and they know it.]]>
382 Jennifer L. Armentrout 1620610108 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.25 2012 Opal (Lux, #3)
author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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The Royal Runaway 40010411 For fans of The Princess Diaries and The Royal We comes a fun and daring novel about a modern-day princess who teams up with a spy to find out what happened to the fiancé who left her at the altar—and who just might get her own fairytale in the process.

Princess Theodora Isabella Victoria of Drieden of the Royal House Laurent is so over this princess thing.

After her fiancé jilted her on their wedding day, she’s finally back home after spending four months in exile—aka it’s back to press conferences, public appearances, and putting on a show for the Driedish nation as the perfect princess they expect her to be. But Thea’s sick of duty. After all, that’s what got her into this mess in the first place.

So when she sneaks out of the palace and meets a sexy Scot named Nick in a local bar, she relishes the chance to be a normal woman for a change. But just as she thinks she’s found her Prince Charming for the night, he reveals his intentions are less than he’s the brother of her former fiancé, a British spy, and he’s not above blackmail. As Thea reluctantly joins forces with Nick to find out what happened the day her fiancé disappeared, together they discover a secret that could destroy a centuries-old monarchy and change life as they know it.

Funny, fast-paced, and full of more twists and turns than the castle Thea lives in, The Royal Runaway is a fresh romantic comedy that will leave you cheering for the modern-day royal who chucks the rulebook aside to create her own happily-ever-after.]]>
305 Lindsay Emory 1501196626 Antonia 3 i-own, contemporary-books 3.59 2018 The Royal Runaway
author: Lindsay Emory
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2018/12/11
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own, contemporary-books
review:

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<![CDATA[Little Boy Blue (DI Helen Grace #5)]]> 29411994 Detective Helen Grace faces her own dark compulsions in the twisty new thriller from the author of Pop Goes the Weasel and Eeny Meeny.

In the darkest corners of the city, there is a thriving nightlife where people can let loose and cross the lines of work and play, of pleasure and pain. But now that sanctuary has been breached. A killer has struck and a man is dead.

In a world where disguises and discretion are the norm, one admission could unravel a life. No one wants to come forward to say what they saw or what they know—including the woman heading the investigation: Detective Helen Grace.

Helen knew the victim. And the victim knew her—better than anyone else. And when the murderer strikes again, Helen must decide how many more lines she’s willing to cross to bring in a devious and elusive serial killer...


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]>
393 M.J. Arlidge 1101991380 Antonia 3 i-own 4.18 2016 Little Boy Blue (DI Helen Grace #5)
author: M.J. Arlidge
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/18
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own
review:

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Finale (Hush, Hush, #4) 16124360
Nora and Patch thought their troubles were behind them. Hank is gone and they should be able to put his ugly vendetta to rest. But in Hank's absence, Nora has become the unwitting head of the Nephilim and must finish what Hank began. Which ultimately means destroying the fallen angels - destroying Patch.

Nora will never let that happen, so she and Patch make a plan: lead everyone to believe they have broken up, and work the system from the inside. Nora will convince the Nephilim that they are making a mistake in fighting the fallen angels, and Patch will find out everything he can from the opposing side. They will end this war before it can even begin.

But the best-laid plans often go awry. Nora is put through the paces in her new role and finds herself drawn to an addictive power she never anticipated.

As the battle lines are drawn, Nora and Patch must confront the differences that have always been between them and either choose to ignore them or let them destroy the love they have always fought for.]]>
466 Becca Fitzpatrick 1442426691 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.17 2012 Finale (Hush, Hush, #4)
author: Becca Fitzpatrick
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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Finding It (Losing It, #3) 18136075
Most girls would kill to spend months traveling around Europe after college graduation with no responsibility, no parents, and no-limit credit cards. Kelsey Summers is no exception. She's having the time of her life . . . or that's what she keeps telling herself.

It's a lonely business trying to find out who you are, especially when you're afraid you won't like what you discover. No amount of drinking or dancing can chase away Kelsey's loneliness, but maybe Jackson Hunt can. After a few chance meetings, he convinces her to take a journey of adventure instead of alcohol. With each new city and experience, Kelsey's mind becomes a little clearer and her heart a little less hers. Jackson helps her unravel her own dreams and desires. But the more she learns about herself, the more Kelsey realizes how little she knows about Jackson.]]>
304 Cora Carmack 0062273302 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.98 2013 Finding It (Losing It, #3)
author: Cora Carmack
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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Morning Star (Red Rising, #3) 24685115
Finally, the time has come.

But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied—and too glorious to surrender.]]>
526 Pierce Brown 0345539850 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.57 2016 Morning Star (Red Rising, #3)
author: Pierce Brown
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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Attachments 11065441 "Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you ..."

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say ...?]]>
338 Rainbow Rowell 1101476346 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.01 2011 Attachments
author: Rainbow Rowell
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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Attack on Titan, Vol. 9 34111931 188 Hajime Isayama 1612626823 Antonia 3 4.55 2012 Attack on Titan, Vol. 9
author: Hajime Isayama
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/13
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own, graphic-novels-and-manga
review:

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Delirium (Delirium, #1) 9462883
They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the She falls in love.]]>
309 Lauren Oliver Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.84 2011 Delirium (Delirium, #1)
author: Lauren Oliver
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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The Unseen World 29396695

Ada Sibelius is raised by David, her brilliant, eccentric, socially inept single father, who directs a computer science lab in 1980s-era Boston. Home-schooled, Ada accompanies David to work every day; by twelve, she is a painfully shy prodigy. The lab begins to gain acclaim at the same time that David's mysterious history comes into question. When his mind begins to falter, leaving Ada virtually an orphan, she is taken in by one of David's colleagues. Soon after she embarks on a mission to uncover her father’s a process that carries her from childhood to adulthood. What Ada discovers on her journey into a virtual universe will keep the reader riveted until The Unseen World's heart-stopping, fascinating conclusion.]]>
452 Liz Moore 0393245004 Antonia 5 i-own 4.27 2016 The Unseen World
author: Liz Moore
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2017/02/28
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-own
review:

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Fallen in Love (Fallen, #3.5) 13014370
And in a twist of fate, four extraordinary love stories combine over the course of a romantic Valentine's Day in Medieval England. Miles and Shelby find love where they least expect it. Roland learns a painful lesson about finding-and losing love. Arianne pays the price for a love so fierce it burns. And for the first -and last- time, Daniel and Luce will spend a night together like none other.

Lauren Kate's FALLEN IN LOVE is filled with love stories, the ones everyone has been waiting for.

True love never says goodbye...]]>
149 Lauren Kate 0307976297 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.88 2012 Fallen in Love (Fallen, #3.5)
author: Lauren Kate
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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The Daughter's Tale 44004374 The internationally bestselling author of The German Girl delivers an unforgettable family saga of love and redemption during World War II, based on the true story of the Nazi massacre of a French village in 1944.

New York City, 2015: Elise Duval, eighty years old, receives a phone call from a woman recently arrived from Cuba bearing messages from a time and country that she’s long forgotten. A French Catholic who arrived in New York after World War II, Elise and her world are forever changed when the woman arrives with letters written to Elise from her mother in German during the war, unravelling more than seven decades of secrets.

Berlin, 1939: Bookstore owner and recent widow Amanda Sternberg is fleeing Nazi Germany with her two young daughters, heading towards unoccupied France. She arrives in Haute-Vienne with only one of her girls. Their freedom is short-lived and soon they are taken to a labor camp.

Based on true events, The Daughter’s Tale chronicles one of the most harrowing atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II: the 1944 massacre of all the inhabitants of Oradour-Sur-Glane, a small, idyllic village in the south of France. Heartbreaking and immersive, The Daughter's Tale is a beautifully crafted family saga of love, survival, and hope against all odds.]]>
331 Armando Lucas Correa 1501187953 Antonia 0 3.98 2019 The Daughter's Tale
author: Armando Lucas Correa
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[We'll Always Have Summer (Summer, #3)]]> 72606751 320 Jenny Han 1416995609 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.82 2011 We'll Always Have Summer (Summer, #3)
author: Jenny Han
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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Under Rose-Tainted Skies 29864683 Norah has agoraphobia and OCD. When groceries are left on the porch, she can’t step out to get them. Struggling to snag the bags with a stick, she meets Luke. He’s sweet and funny, and he just caught her fishing for groceries. Because of course he did.

Norah can’t leave the house, but can she let someone in?As their friendship grows deeper, Norah realizes Luke deserves a normal girl. One who can lie on the front lawn and look up at the stars. One who isn’t so screwed up.

Readers themselves will fall in love with Norah in this poignant, humorous, and deeply engaging portrait of a teen struggling to find the strength to face her demons.]]>
336 Louise Gornall 0544736524 Antonia 3 3.94 2016 Under Rose-Tainted Skies
author: Louise Gornall
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2018/04/06
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: contemporary-books, young-adult-books, i-own
review:

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Soundless 25181087
When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.]]>
272 Richelle Mead 0698148436 Antonia 1 i-own, young-adult-books 3.57 2015 Soundless
author: Richelle Mead
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2015
rating: 1
read at: 2015/11/17
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own, young-adult-books
review:

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<![CDATA[Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children, #3)]]> 35042084 A stand-alone fantasy tale from Seanan McGuire's Alex-award winning Wayward Children series, which began in the Alex, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning, World Fantasy Award finalist, Tiptree Honor List Every Heart a Doorway

Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third book in McGuire's Wayward Children series, returns to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children in a standalone contemporary fantasy for fans of all ages. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the "real" world.

When Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, the last thing she expects to find is that her mother, Sumi, died years before Rini was even conceived. But Rini can’t let Reality get in the way of her quest � not when she has an entire world to save! (Much more common than one would suppose.)

If she can't find a way to restore her mother, Rini will have more than a world to she will never have been born in the first place. And in a world without magic, she doesn’t have long before Reality notices her existence and washes her away. Good thing the student body is well-acquainted with quests...

A tale of friendship, baking, and derring-do.

May contain nuts.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]>
174 Seanan McGuire 0765393573 Antonia 4 i-own, young-adult-books 4.04 2018 Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children, #3)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/13
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own, young-adult-books
review:

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<![CDATA[The Young Elites (The Young Elites, #1)]]> 17984141 I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.]]>
370 Marie Lu 0698171721 Antonia 4 i-own, favourites
In a Renaissance-like period, we meet Adelina Amouteru, her sister Violetta, and her father as they live in a world stricken by the so-called blood fever, a fever that kills adults and marks children, transforming them into malfettos. Malfettos are children and young teenagers surviving from the blood fever, physically marked for life. For example, Adelina has got only one eye, her right one, because her left one was so badly swollen by the fever that doctors had to remove it. Some of these children show magical powers after the fever vanishes, and these children and teenagers are called The Young Elites. A variety of powers reside in them, moving the wind, creating illusions (Adelina's power), burning people with fire, talking to animals and making them attack people and so on. But due to these powers a large amount of people in Kennettra hate malfettos and curse them as they believe they are demons walking on earth. The Inquisition Axis, and its members, the Inquisitors, are an organisation sworn to kill all malfettos and set the world free of their "demonic powers", as they call them. But The Young Elites, the youth who manifests incredible supernatural powers will not fall down so easily...
Gosh, where to begin from? I loved and hated this book to equal extents. Let's start by saying that Adelina is a anti-hero. She's not the strong female character, full of purity and power of heart we've seen in so many other YA/Dystopian/High-Fantasy novels. Adelina is dark, menacing, confused, a female Darth Vader. Sometimes, for some weird reason, she reminded me of Cersei Lannister from the Game of Thrones, huh. Adelina has been mistreated for her whole life and has so much anger and disappointment suppressed inside her heart. Marie Lu unfolds Adelina's characteer in a really beautiful way I dare say. The plot of the book begins somewhat slowly, but then it accelerates and surprises us with many twists and turns. The political aspect of this imaginary world isn't fully explained though, and many of my questions remain unanswered, I guess Marie Lu will enlighten all of us in the next books of the trilogy. Her writing is talented (I haven't read the Legend trilogy, so this book was my first experience with this particular author) and I absolutely loved the way she describes each Elite's unique power. I generally really liked how magic is explored in this book.
I loved Adelina, even though I almost threw the book out of the window after reding this specific chapter where the walls of my heart fell down and cried, cried, cried until there was no more liquid inside my eyes. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS, MARIE LU? PLEASE PROMISE ME YOU'LL FIX IT IN THE NEXT BOOK. I'M BEGGING YOU! I can't say what happens, but keep this: it gets dark and ugly.
Overall, 4 out of 5 stars, or maybe 4.5 out of 5. This was a great story and Adelina's character was a refreshing wind in the overused portrayal of strong female characters in today's Fantasy genres. Adelina is a villain, or at least she reminds us of one. I'm very curious to see how she will act, think and feel in the next book. This book caused me a hurricane of emotions and made me think about a lot of things, considering I empathized with Adelina, even when she lost all her humanity. Adelina is scarred in body and in soul, she's a victim and a murderer. She's a fallen angel and a demonic storm.
I recommend this book to people who love the Dystopian and High-Fantasy genres. It's a story about marked people, minorities in a world that can't really adapt to someone being different from them. It reminds us all of the tragedies that happen to minorities in our modern world, of murders, both physical and emotional, that people who are different from the majority, experience every single day of their lives. It's a story about the darkness of people's souls, their limits and how they can use it to hurt or mend themselves. Please read it and share your opinions with me. I'm so looking forward to see how the story is continued.]]>
3.86 2014 The Young Elites (The Young Elites, #1)
author: Marie Lu
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/11/19
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own, favourites
review:
I think I'll burst into tears before being able to finish this review but I'll do my best to explain my emotions and my opinion about this book as accurately as possibly.

In a Renaissance-like period, we meet Adelina Amouteru, her sister Violetta, and her father as they live in a world stricken by the so-called blood fever, a fever that kills adults and marks children, transforming them into malfettos. Malfettos are children and young teenagers surviving from the blood fever, physically marked for life. For example, Adelina has got only one eye, her right one, because her left one was so badly swollen by the fever that doctors had to remove it. Some of these children show magical powers after the fever vanishes, and these children and teenagers are called The Young Elites. A variety of powers reside in them, moving the wind, creating illusions (Adelina's power), burning people with fire, talking to animals and making them attack people and so on. But due to these powers a large amount of people in Kennettra hate malfettos and curse them as they believe they are demons walking on earth. The Inquisition Axis, and its members, the Inquisitors, are an organisation sworn to kill all malfettos and set the world free of their "demonic powers", as they call them. But The Young Elites, the youth who manifests incredible supernatural powers will not fall down so easily...
Gosh, where to begin from? I loved and hated this book to equal extents. Let's start by saying that Adelina is a anti-hero. She's not the strong female character, full of purity and power of heart we've seen in so many other YA/Dystopian/High-Fantasy novels. Adelina is dark, menacing, confused, a female Darth Vader. Sometimes, for some weird reason, she reminded me of Cersei Lannister from the Game of Thrones, huh. Adelina has been mistreated for her whole life and has so much anger and disappointment suppressed inside her heart. Marie Lu unfolds Adelina's characteer in a really beautiful way I dare say. The plot of the book begins somewhat slowly, but then it accelerates and surprises us with many twists and turns. The political aspect of this imaginary world isn't fully explained though, and many of my questions remain unanswered, I guess Marie Lu will enlighten all of us in the next books of the trilogy. Her writing is talented (I haven't read the Legend trilogy, so this book was my first experience with this particular author) and I absolutely loved the way she describes each Elite's unique power. I generally really liked how magic is explored in this book.
I loved Adelina, even though I almost threw the book out of the window after reding this specific chapter where the walls of my heart fell down and cried, cried, cried until there was no more liquid inside my eyes. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS, MARIE LU? PLEASE PROMISE ME YOU'LL FIX IT IN THE NEXT BOOK. I'M BEGGING YOU! I can't say what happens, but keep this: it gets dark and ugly.
Overall, 4 out of 5 stars, or maybe 4.5 out of 5. This was a great story and Adelina's character was a refreshing wind in the overused portrayal of strong female characters in today's Fantasy genres. Adelina is a villain, or at least she reminds us of one. I'm very curious to see how she will act, think and feel in the next book. This book caused me a hurricane of emotions and made me think about a lot of things, considering I empathized with Adelina, even when she lost all her humanity. Adelina is scarred in body and in soul, she's a victim and a murderer. She's a fallen angel and a demonic storm.
I recommend this book to people who love the Dystopian and High-Fantasy genres. It's a story about marked people, minorities in a world that can't really adapt to someone being different from them. It reminds us all of the tragedies that happen to minorities in our modern world, of murders, both physical and emotional, that people who are different from the majority, experience every single day of their lives. It's a story about the darkness of people's souls, their limits and how they can use it to hurt or mend themselves. Please read it and share your opinions with me. I'm so looking forward to see how the story is continued.
]]>
<![CDATA[Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily (Dash & Lily, #3)]]> 53473791 Timed to the release of DASH AND LILY on Netflix comes a new helping of love--this time across the pond as best-selling authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan send Dash and Lily to jolly old England.

Dash and Lily are feeling closer than ever...it's just too bad they're also an ocean apart. After Dash gets accepted to Oxford University and Lily stays in New York to take care of her dogwalking business, the inseparable couple are struggling to make a long distance relationship work. And when Dash breaks the news that he won't be coming home to New York for Christmas, Lily makes a decision: if Dash can't come to New York, she'll go to London. But will Lily pull off the ultimate surprise--or will Christmas in London backfire?]]>
251 Rachel Cohn 0593301552 Antonia 4 i-own, contemporary-books 3.87 2020 Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily (Dash & Lily, #3)
author: Rachel Cohn
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/12/10
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own, contemporary-books
review:

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<![CDATA[Of Fire and Stars (Of Fire and Stars, #1)]]> 29416608 An atmospheric and romantic debut fantasy perfect for fans of Ash and The Winner’s Curse.

Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile kingdoms.

But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire—a dangerous gift for the future queen of a land where magic is forbidden.

Now Denna has to learn the ways of her new kingdom while trying to hide her growing magic. To make matters worse, she must learn to ride Mynaria’s formidable warhorses before her coronation—and her teacher is the person who intimidates her most, the prickly and unconventional Princess Amaranthine, sister of her betrothed.

When a shocking assassination leaves the kingdom reeling, Mare and Denna reluctantly join forces to search for the culprit. As the two work together, they discover there is more to one another than they thought—and soon their friendship is threatening to blossom into something more.

But with dangerous conflict brewing that makes the alliance more important than ever, acting on their feelings could be deadly. Forced to choose between their duty and their hearts, Mare and Denna must find a way to save their kingdoms—and each other.]]>
400 Audrey Coulthurst 006243327X Antonia 0 3.90 2016 Of Fire and Stars (Of Fire and Stars, #1)
author: Audrey Coulthurst
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read, young-adult-books, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1)]]> 21825528
Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country’s most accomplished spies, dispatched � along with her terrifying “secretary�, Sigrud � to solve a murder.

But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem, and that Bulikov’s cruel reign may not yet be over.

A tale of vast conspiracies, dead gods, and buried histories, City of Stairs is at once a gripping spy novel and a stunningly original work of fantasy.]]>
466 Robert Jackson Bennett 0804137188 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.21 2014 City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[These Broken Stars (Starbound, #1)]]> 18296615
Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.]]>
384 Amie Kaufman 1423187784 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.93 2013 These Broken Stars (Starbound, #1)
author: Amie Kaufman
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1)]]> 60556912
Every day I clean the Winchesters� beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out� and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of�

An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!]]>
329 Freida McFadden 1803144378 Antonia 4 4.31 2022 The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1)
author: Freida McFadden
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/22
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own, mystery-suspense-horror
review:

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<![CDATA[The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)]]> 18039177 453 Maggie Stiefvater 0545577179 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.21 2013 The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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Josh and Gemma Make a Baby 59796297 New Year’s Resolution:
Have a baby
Preferably with Josh Lewenthal

Meet Gemma Jacobs. She’s driven, energetic, and a positive thinker. She has a great career working for famed self-help guru Ian Fortune, she lives in a cute studio apartment in Manhattan, and her family is supportive and loving (albeit a little kooky). Her life is perfect. Absolutely wonderful.

Except for one tiny little thing.

After a decade of disastrous relationships and an infertility diagnosis, Gemma doesn’t want a Mr. Right (or even a Mr. Right Now), she just wants a baby.
And all she needs is an egg, some sperm, and IVF.

So Gemma makes a New Year’s resolution: have a baby.

Josh Lewenthal is a laid back, relaxed, find-the-humor-in-life kind of guy. The polar opposite of Gemma. He’s also her brother’s best friend. For the past twenty years Josh has attended every Jacobs� family birthday, holiday, and event � he’s always around.

Gemma knows him. He’s nice (enough), he’s funny (-ish), he’s healthy (she thinks) and he didn’t burn any ants with a magnifying glass as a kid. Which, in Gemma’s mind, makes him the perfect option for a sperm donor.

So Gemma wants to make a deal. An unemotional, businesslike arrangement. No commitments, just a baby.

To Gemma’s surprise, Josh agrees.

They have nothing in common, except their agreement to make a baby and their desire to keep things businesslike.

But the thing about baby-making…it’s hard to keep it businesslike, it’s nearly impossible to keep it unemotional, and it’s definitely impossible to keep your heart out of the mix. Because when you’re making a baby together, things have a way of starting to feel like you’re making other things too � like a life, and a family, and love. And when the baby-making ends, you wish that everything else didn’t have to end too.]]>
366 Sarah Ready 1954007183 Antonia 2 i-own, contemporary-books 3.82 2022 Josh and Gemma Make a Baby
author: Sarah Ready
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2022/03/07
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own, contemporary-books
review:

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Race the Sands 40571151
Life, death, and rebirth -- in Becar, everyone knows that who you are in this life will determine what you are in your next life. The augurs can read your fate in your aura: hawk, heron, tortoise, jackal, human. Armed with that knowledge, you can change your destiny with the choices you make, both in this life and your next. But for the darkest individuals, there is no redemption: you come back as a kehok, a monster, and you will always be a kehok for the rest of time.

Unless you can win the Races.

As a professional trainer, Tamra was an elite kehok rider. Then a tragic accident on the track shattered her confidence, damaged her career, and left her nearly broke. Now Tamra needs the prize money to prevent the local temple from taking her daughter away from her, and that means she must once again find a winning kehok . . . and a rider willing to trust her.

Raia is desperate to get away from her domineering family and cruel fiancé. As a kehok rider, she could earn enough to buy her freedom. But she can't become good enough to compete without a first-rate trainer.

Impressed by the inexperienced young woman's determination, Tamra hires Raia and pairs her with a strange new kehok with the potential to win -- if he can be tamed.

But in this sport, if you forget you're riding on the back of a monster, you die. Tamra and Raia will work harder than they ever thought possible to win the deadly Becaran Races -- and in the process, discover what makes this particular kehok so special.]]>
544 Sarah Beth Durst 0062888625 Antonia 5 i-own, favourites 4.34 2020 Race the Sands
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/06/15
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own, favourites
review:

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Why Evolution Is True 8752557 "Coyne's knowledge of evolutionary biology is prodigious, his deployment of it as masterful as his touch is light." -Richard Dawkins In the current debate about creationism and intelligent design, there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned-the evidence. Yet the proof of evolution by natural selection is vast, varied, and magnificent. In this succinct and accessible summary of the facts supporting the theory of natural selection, Jerry A. Coyne dispels common misunderstandings and fears about evolution and clearly confirms the scientific truth that supports this amazing process of change. Weaving together the many threads of modern work in genetics, paleontology, geology, molecular biology, and anatomy that demonstrate the "indelible stamp" of the processes first proposed by Darwin, Why Evolution Is True does not aim to prove creationism wrong. Rather, by using irrefutable evidence, it sets out to prove evolution right.]]> 316 Jerry A. Coyne 1440685851 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 4.37 2008 Why Evolution Is True
author: Jerry A. Coyne
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood, #1)]]> 22754644
Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's never met.

Incredibly funny and poignant, this twenty-first-century coming-of-age, coming out story—wrapped in a geek romance—is a knockout of a debut novel by Becky Albertalli.]]>
325 Becky Albertalli 0062348698 Antonia 5 4.33 2015 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood, #1)
author: Becky Albertalli
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2017/07/20
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: young-adult-books, i-own, contemporary-books
review:

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Puddin' (Dumplin', #2) 28269171
Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream—and to kiss her crush. Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend. When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they will surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing they might have more in common than they ever imagined.]]>
437 Julie Murphy 0062418408 Antonia 4 4.00 2018 Puddin' (Dumplin', #2)
author: Julie Murphy
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2019/01/26
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: contemporary-books, i-own, young-adult-books
review:

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<![CDATA[The Other Side of Us (Harlequin Superromance)]]> 16282705
His intentions are put to the test, however, when his dog becomes infatuated with hers. The two crafty canines do their best to break down the barriers between the properties. And where the dogs go…well, the humans must follow! It doesn't take long for a powerful attraction to build between Oliver and Mackenzie. They soon discover that the worst of first impressions can lead to the best possible outcomes�.]]>
300 Sarah Mayberry 1460301102 Antonia 3 i-own 3.35 2013 The Other Side of Us (Harlequin Superromance)
author: Sarah Mayberry
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2014/09/23
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Your Medical Mind: How to Decide What Is Right for You]]> 11995474 Your Medical Mind shows us how to chart a clear path through this sea of confusion.

Drs. Groopman and Hartzband reveal that each of us has a set of deeply rooted beliefs whose profound influence we may not realize when we make medical decisions. How much trust we place in authority figures, in statistics or in other patients' stories, in technology or in natural healing, and whether we seek the most or the least treatment--all are key factors that shape our choices. Recognizing our preferences and the external factors that might lead our thinking astray can make a dramatic, even lifesaving, difference in our medical decision making. When conflicting information pulls us back and forth between options, when we feel pressured by doctors or loved ones to make a particular choice, or when we have no previous experience to guide us through a crisis, Your Medical Mind will prove to be an essential companion.

The authors interviewed scores of patients and draw on research and insights from doctors, psychologists, economists, and other experts to help explain the array of forces that can aid or impede our thinking. They show us the subtle strategies drug advertisers use to influence our choices. They unveil the extreme--sometimes dangerously misleading--power of both narratives and statistics. And they help us understand how to improve upon a universal human shortcoming--assessing the future impact of the decisions we make now.

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322 Jerome Groopman 1101547820 Antonia 4 veterinary-books, i-own 3.82 2011 Your Medical Mind: How to Decide What Is Right for You
author: Jerome Groopman
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2016/05/15
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: veterinary-books, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies, #2)]]> 36531149
You may think you know the story. Penniless orphan Jane Eyre begins a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester—and, Reader, she marries him. Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Bronte, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.]]>
464 Cynthia Hand 0062652796 Antonia 0 3.74 2018 My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies, #2)
author: Cynthia Hand
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: young-adult-books, to-read, i-own, historical-fiction
review:

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Fable (Fable, #1) 51179832
As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him and Fable soon finds that West isn't who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they're going to stay alive.]]>
361 Adrienne Young 125025437X Antonia 3 i-own, young-adult-books 4.18 2020 Fable (Fable, #1)
author: Adrienne Young
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/05/24
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own, young-adult-books
review:

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I Stop Somewhere 29751533 320 T.E. Carter 1250124654 Antonia 5 3.90 2018 I Stop Somewhere
author: T.E. Carter
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/04/02
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: i-own, contemporary-books, young-adult-books, favourites
review:

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<![CDATA[Dark Water (Detective Erika Foster, #3)]]> 31433106
When Detective Erika Foster receives a tip-off that key evidence for a major narcotics case was stashed in a disused quarry on the outskirts of London, she orders for it to be searched. From the thick sludge the drugs are recovered, but so is the skeleton of a young child.

The remains are quickly identified as seven-year-old Jessica Collins. The missing girl who made headline news twenty-six years ago.

As Erika tries to piece together new evidence with the old, she must dig deeper and find out more about the fractured Collins family and the original detective, Amanda Baker. A woman plagued by her failure to find Jessica. Erika soon realises this is going to be one of the most complex and demanding cases she has ever taken on.

Is the suspect someone close to home? Someone is keeping secrets. Someone who doesn’t want this case solved. And they’ll do anything to stop Erika from finding the truth.

From the million-copy bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice and The Night Stalker, comes the third heart-stopping book in the Detective Erika Foster series.]]>
624 Robert Bryndza 1786810689 Antonia 0 4.28 2016 Dark Water (Detective Erika Foster, #3)
author: Robert Bryndza
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read, i-own, mystery-suspense-horror
review:

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<![CDATA[The Magical Language of Others]]> 48744141 The Magical Language of Others is a powerful and aching love story in letters, from mother to daughter. After living in America for over a decade, Eun Ji Koh’s parents return to South Korea for work, leaving fifteen-year-old Eun Ji and her brother behind in California. Overnight, Eun Ji finds herself abandoned and adrift in a world made strange by her mother’s absence. Her mother writes letters, in Korean, over the years seeking forgiveness and love—letters Eun Ji cannot fully understand until she finds them years later hidden in a box.

As Eun Ji translates the letters, she looks to history—her grandmother Jun’s years as a lovesick wife in Daejeon, the horrors her grandmother Kumiko witnessed during the Jeju Island Massacre—and to poetry, as well as her own lived experience to answer questions inside all of us. Where do the stories of our mothers and grandmothers end and ours begin? How do we find words—in Korean, Japanese, English, or any language—to articulate the profound ways that distance can shape love? Eun Ji Koh fearlessly grapples with forgiveness, reconciliation, legacy, and intergenerational trauma, arriving at insights that are essential reading for anyone who has ever had to balance love, longing, heartbreak, and joy.

The Magical Language of Others weaves a profound tale of hard-won selfhood and our deep bonds to family, place, and language, introducing—in Eun Ji Koh—a singular, incandescent voice.]]>
203 E.J. Koh 1947793470 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own 3.95 2020 The Magical Language of Others
author: E.J. Koh
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: to-read, i-own
review:

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<![CDATA[Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Finlay Donovan, #3)]]> 60825556 From USA Today bestseller and Edgar-Award nominee Elle Cosimano, comes Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun—the highly anticipated, hilarious, and heart-pounding next installment in the beloved Finlay Donovan

Author and single mom Finlay Donovan has been in messes before―after all, she's a pro at removing bloodstains for various unexpected reasons―but none quite like this. When Finlay and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero accidentally destroyed a luxury car that they had "borrowed" in the process of saving the life of Finlay's ex-husband, the Russian mob did her a favor and bought the car for her. And now Finlay owes them.

Mob boss Feliks is still running the show from behind bars, and he has a task for Finlay: find and identify a contract killer before the cops do. The problem is, the killer might be an officer themself.

Luckily, hot cop Nick has just been tasked with starting up a citizen's police academy, and combined pressure from Finlay's looming book deadline and Feliks is enough to convince Finlay and Vero to get involved. Through firearm training and forensic classes (and some hands-on research with a tempting detective), Finlay and Vero use their time in police academy to sleuth out the real contract killer to free themselves from the mob's clutches―all the while dodging spies, confronting Vero's past, and juggling the daily trials of parenthood.]]>
304 Elle Cosimano 1250846021 Antonia 2 contemporary-books, i-own 3.97 2023 Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Finlay Donovan, #3)
author: Elle Cosimano
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2023/04/08
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: contemporary-books, i-own
review:
Very underwhelming compared to the previous two books, though I read the second and third book practically in one sitting. I'll probably continue one with the series if more books are set to be released, but with my expectations kept at a low level. Still, a fun cozy mystery series.
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<![CDATA[The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium, #4)]]> 25196214 This fall, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist return in the highly anticipated follow-up to Stieg Larsson's THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST

In this adrenaline-charged thriller, genius-hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist face a dangerous new threat and must again join forces.

Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a trusted source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female super hacker—a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering.

Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Lisbeth for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. In The Girl in the Spider's Web, the duo who thrilled 80 million readers in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest meet again in an extraordinary and uniquely of-the-moment thriller.]]>
416 David Lagercrantz 0385354290 Antonia 3 4.09 2015 The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium, #4)
author: David Lagercrantz
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2015/09/14
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: i-own, mystery-suspense-horror
review:

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<![CDATA[The Edge of Never (The Edge of Never, #1)]]> 17622843 --The New York Times, USA Today, and Wallstreet Journal bestselling blockbuster--

This new paperback edition includes exclusive bonus material - an all-new full chapter from Andrew's point of view during a crucial scene!

Sometimes life takes you off course . . .

THE EDGE OF NEVER

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett thought she knew exactly where her life was going. But after a wild night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she shocks everyone-including herself-when she decides to leave the only life she's ever known and set out on her own. Grabbing her purse and her cell phone, Camryn boards a Greyhound bus ready to find herself. Instead, she finds Andrew Parrish.

Sexy and exciting, Andrew lives life like there is no tomorrow. He persuades Camryn to do things she never thought she would and shows her how to give in to her deepest, most forbidden desires. Soon he becomes the center of her daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But there is more to Andrew than Camryn realizes. Will his secret push them inseparably together-or destroy them forever?]]>
452 J.A. Redmerski 1455548995 Antonia 0 to-read, i-own, netgalley 4.07 2012 The Edge of Never (The Edge of Never, #1)
author: J.A. Redmerski
name: Antonia
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: to-read, i-own, netgalley
review:

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The Miniaturist 22061531 Now a television miniseries, as seen on Masterpiece on PBS

Set in seventeenth century Amsterdam—a city ruled by glittering wealth and oppressive religion—a masterful debut steeped in atmosphere and shimmering with mystery, in the tradition of Emma Donoghue, Sarah Waters, and Sarah Dunant.

”There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed . . .�

On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office—leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.

But Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist—an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .

Johannes� gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand—and fear—the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?

Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.]]>
419 Jessie Burton 0062306839 Antonia 0 3.79 2014 The Miniaturist
author: Jessie Burton
name: Antonia
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, i-own
review:

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