Tuesday Book Review on Thursday

 

Five-star review for War of Machines and Monsters (The Kairen Chronicles book 2) by Christopher Keene

I was given an ARC of this book by the author with a request for an honest review. A great read full of wonderful human and non-human characters. Nathaniel now works for the wealthiest businessman in Avast City. When machines, including Nathaniel's forge, become sentient, he wants to get to the bottom of what caused them to animate. And what does the red haze and the Melkai have to do with what's happening? This second in the Kairen Chronicles series is a fun read for all.

Tuesday Book review on Wednesday

Five-star review for The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

I didn’t think I’d enjoy this story as much as I did. Told in letters to and from a seventy-something lawyer named Sybil Van Antwerp who’d worked with a well-known judge, how interesting could it be? But the book had been well received by critics and the public alike. I listened to it on Audible. Perhaps it was the fact that actors were used to voice Sybil and the many people who wrote to her and their voices became identified with those characters in my head. Maybe it was the fact that she was unaware of the impact she had on those around her, or that a complete picture of what motivated this woman and how she dealt with the life she lived was provided through the content of the letters. Whatever the reason, I found it difficult to stop listening. 

Tuesday Book Review

Five-star review for The Secrets Below: The Whispering Sea Mysteries book 1 by Camilla Sten and Viveca Sten

Twelve-year-old Tuva, a schoolgirl living on one of the sparsely inhabited islands in the Swedish archipelago near Stockholm has been ostracized by her classmates but she doesn’t know why. She has scary, recurring dreams. When she sees lights that focus into faeries as she follows one of the boys during a school orienteering outing, she begins to think she’s going mad. But the truth about her heritage and abilities is even stranger than that. The mysteries about what happened to her as an infant are tied to recent disappearances of people she knows. It was interesting that the authors also brought into the story the current eutrophication of ocean waters due to climate change. The language in this translation to English was wonderful. Although classified as a YA or even pre-teen fantasy, likely because of the age of the protagonist as my books are, adults would definitely enjoy the story.