Sam's Updates

Sam added 'The Guest List'

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:09:49 -0800

Sam gave 4 stars to The Guest List (Kindle Edition) by Lucy Foley
An absolute page-turner!! Lucy Foley really knows how to turn a simple, elegant wedding on a little island into a deadly affair. Each chapter follows the point of view of different people involved in the wedding, the bride, the bridesmaid, the best man, the wedding planner and the plus-one. I loved how even though you see the entire story through varying perspectives, it's still easy to follow. Foley uses a diary-entry style for each POV which I thought worked incredibly well for a 'whodunnit' plot.

The plot twists had me shocked and one even made me cry, but the suspense and tension was as riveting as being an actual guest at this wedding. I am never going to look at celebrities the same way after this😅 I was impressed with how Foley tied everything together, however, I did feel the coincidences were definitely contrived. It's kind of unrealistic to have one person have a connection to more than one or two people at a wedding, unless it was planned (in this case it wasn't). It made it seem like the UK is a very, very small place. Also, the end would have been great if I had a little more resolution to Hannah's character (she was my favourite and the more deserving). My high rating is for the sheer joy of reading a 'whodunnit' set off the west coast of Ireland.

Sam added 'The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre'

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:09:24 -0800

Sam gave 5 stars to The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre (Paperback) by Robert Morrison

Sam finished reading 'The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre'

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:08:51 -0800

Sam finished reading The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre by Robert Morrison

Sam is on page 66 of 504 of The Serpent and the Wings

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 08:25:36 -0800

Sam is on page 66 of 504 of The Serpent and the Wings of Night.

Sam added 'House of Flame and Shadow'

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 11:45:47 -0800

Sam gave 4 stars to House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3) by Sarah J. Maas
The final book in the Crescent City series was everything the first 2 books should have been: fast-paced, action-packed, and consistent narration.

Plot: Bryce and Hunt are separated between worlds. Hunt is held in the Asteri dungeons with Ruhn and Baxian being severely tortured by the ruthless Pollux and the Hammer. Bryce finds herself in the original Fae world where she meets Nesta, Azriel, and Rhysand (cross-over from the ACOTAR series). Unfortunately, she's desperate to get back to save her mate, her brother and friends so she rapidly tries to figure out why her starlight sent her there to the home of her ancestors whilst finding a way to kill the Asteri. Meanwhile, Lidia (the Hind who is now enemy-turned-ally) finds a way to rescue Ruhn, Hunt, and Baxian using all the help she can muster from Bryce's friends. Thereafter, the group is tasked with the mission of ending the Asteri's regime once and for all.

Verdict: Lots of events and incidents take place, almost simultaneously. The history of Midgard and how the Asteri got control of it was super interesting but highly convoluted. Maas poured a ton of information in one go that you're forced to rely on Bryce to remember it all. This book made me realise I liked Bryce and Hunt much better when they were separated. Together, they were insufferable. Nevertheless, this book was all about tying up loose ends, which it did exceptionally well. I was expecting a lead up to an epic showdown, but it was more about having minor subplots reaching a resolution until the main one found its denouement. The last few chapters became tedious, so I skimmed through it and was still satisfied with the ending. This series is not better than ACOTAR, but not bad either.

Sam has challenged herself to read 25 books in 2025.

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 06:07:54 -0800

She has read 3 books toward her goal of 25 books.

3 of 25 (12%)

Create your own 2025 Reading Challenge »

Sam added 'The Cloisters'

Sun, 29 Dec 2024 04:14:24 -0800

Sam gave 4 stars to The Cloisters (Hardcover) by Katy Hays
The Cloisters is a great read on how academia can suddenly turn dark. Following a single summer of Ann Stilwell, the reader is taken through the glorious archives of the Met Museum of New York, specifically the Cloisters. Stilwell, our very drab and boring narrator, is determined to leave Walla Walla, Washington, as soon as she graduates. Specialising in Renaissance art, a very rare study that she was the only student of her professor, she finally gets a summer internship at the Met. Upon arriving at the Met, she is told her supervisor/mentor was called away on urgent business and, therefore, was not needed at all. As fate would have it, Patrick Roland requires assistance in the Cloisters with him and another grad-student Rachel. They are researching tarot card reading/ divination during the Renaissance era. Ann, who is escaping the lingering memory of her father and does not believe in fate, decides to hide her own beliefs to take the job offer that could possibly catapult her current lowly status in academia. Unfortunately, she's not the only one with secrets, and soon Ann is embroiled (almost seduced) into investigating the reality or surreality of the past and present.

Ann is not a bad narrator. She is just very impressionable. I get why someone from a small town would be enticed by the highly influential people of a big city such as New York. I don't blame her for wanting to be liked, almost loved, by Rachel, whose old money status has gotten her to become widely known in the academic world at such a young age, by Patrick, whose mentorship reminds her so much of the father she lost too soon, or even by Leo, the cool gardener of medieval medicinal herbs whose subtle criminal activity gives her a thrill, especially when he starts showing romantic interest in her. But Ann is as self-aggrandizing as the academics around her. She knows that there's something off about the people she works with, but her fear of having to go back home and the desire to attain the same status as Rachel leads to her making the worst choices. Nevertheless, Katy Hays shows us that perhaps this is the result of what happens when you don't have a leg-up in the world, such as nepotism or special recommendations, you end up choosing what is best for yourself, and only yourself only. That is, until tragedy strikes.

Sam added 'House of Sky and Breath'

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:22:15 -0800

Sam gave 2 stars to House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2) by Sarah J. Maas
Book #2 of the Crescent City novel series, House of Sky and Breath, was tedious. It begins with a brother and sister escaping from some sort of high-end prison. These are new characters introduced to the series, so the assumption is that they will feature later on to understand their backstory. This is not the case. Only one of the siblings' features...for about 5 seconds. Their story was merely written to drive the plot. Danika is still providing shocks and gasps for Bryce beyond the grave. Turns out Danika had been cavorting with human rebels and established some kind of rapport with a Sofie Renast (the sister from the aforementioned prison break), which led to them working together. Tharion, the mer guy, is tasked by his River Queen to find Sofie and requests Bryce, Hunt, Ithan, and Ruhn's help. Thus, beginning a bevy of events that leads to the gang into investigating the Asteri. Along the way are a plethora of mind-boggling plot twists. Here's an example of one, the fiancé that the Autumn King chooses for Bryce, a Cormac, the Fae Prince of Avallen, is an undercover rebel agent and a lover of Sofie Renast🤯.

There are lots of interesting points about the world Maas has created, but it's a laborious task to make sense of. There was just too much information given that I'm surprised Maas, herself, could keep up with all of it, because somehow things did tie together in the end. Bryce and Hunt are my least favourite characters. The things that drive them to make decisions are frivolous. Bryce continues with the rebel-investigation because it kills her to know that Danika, her sister from another mother, kept secrets from her and Hunt's motivation is to keep Bryce safe, happy and always sexually satisfied, that's it. The deviation from Hunt/Bryce POVs were far more pleasant, and I really enjoyed POVs with Ruhn (my favourite character, so far). It took forever to get to the actual exciting part which was in the last few chapters where Bryce discovers the real reason for Danika's death, plus there is an allusion to a cross-over to another one of Maas's series. The writing is basic and action-driven, and the style of 3rd-person multiple POV, where the narrator uses third-person pronouns like "he," "she," or "they" but is limited to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of a single character at a time (multiple because Maas shifts POV between different characters) makes me cringe half the time. I'd much prefer if she used 1st-person POV or used 3rd-person where the author/narrator is separated from the action. Nevertheless, I will be completing the series to see how it all ends.

Sam added 'Holly'

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 13:34:44 -0800

Sam gave 4 stars to Holly (Hardcover) by Stephen King
A fantastic read! In true Stephen King fashion, Holly follows a similar message in almost all of his novels: humans are the worst kind of monster out there. Holly Gibney is a private detective, and she just lost her mother to covid. Her mum was one of those who believed 'covid' is a lie, so the irony of her death is not lost on Holly. King sets this novel across a time period of before covid and during. He uses the backdrop of all the socio-political issues that took place in America at that time, such as the riots in the Capitol, the rise of the anti-vaxxers, and the racial injustices committed by the police. Against this, he carries an interesting plot of people going missing in a small university town. However, Holly doesn't know that yet because she was hired to only investigate the disappearance of Bonnie Dahl, a young woman who works at the university library.

The point of view alternates between the kidnappers, Holly, and sometimes minor characters between chapters. I don't usually like knowing who the perps are before the denouement of a whodunnit novel as I love making my predictions, but for this novel, it works. You get an understanding of the how, why, when, where, and what reason two old people in their late seventies would want to kidnap certain people. Yes, they're old, very old people. I will never be able to fully trust an old person's plea for help again. As much as I enjoyed this novel, I am only giving it a 4 out of 5 stars because I didn't particularly like how it ended. It's definitely worth a read, though.

Sam added 'House of Earth and Blood'

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 15:36:28 -0800

Sam gave 5 stars to House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1) by Sarah J. Maas
It took me a while to warm up to the narrative of a half-human, half-fae female who is hyper-independent and wants everyone to think the worst of her. Bryce Quinlan comes across as your average YA female protagonist, which might make it seem that this may be your average, predictable YA novel. It isn't! House of Earth and Blood is far from predictable, and Bryce genuinely develops holistically as a character.

Seeing as my only other foray into Sarah J. Maas's writing is the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, I obviously made many comparisons. While the ACOTAR series really delved into the explicit sexual content, the Crescent City series teetered on the edge of it. One can only assume it was to create the slow-burn romance between Bryce and the angel Hunt Athalar. However, like ACOTAR, House of Earth and Blood has the female protagonist go from ordinary and average to the most powerful entity in the universe. Maas does toxic masculinity really well and even gets her female protagonists to stand up to it, but it would be nice for the women in her novels to come across a feminist male once in a while (and not one that values women empowerment only because they're in love with the most powerful one of all). It's a fantasy genre; make it up if such things don't exist in reality.

Nevertheless, it was a great and enjoyable read, and I would highly recommend giving this series a go!