Reviews

Book Review | One by One by Ruth Ware

September 6, 2020 bookishluna4 Comments

*Book given via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Description:

Getting snowed in at a beautiful, rustic mountain chalet doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world, especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a cozy fire, and company to keep you warm. But what happens when that company is eight of your coworkers…and you can’t trust any of them?

When an off-site company retreat meant to promote mindfulness and collaboration goes utterly wrong when an avalanche hits, the corporate food chain becomes irrelevant and survival trumps togetherness. Come Monday morning, how many members short will the team be?

What I Liked

First and foremost, Ware has once again shown her talent when it comes to creating an atmosphere perfect for a thriller. Again and again Ware has proven that she can in a short time make you feel as if you are in the story along with the characters. You get suspicious of people right away and you feel trapped right along side them on the mountain top chalet. This has always been my favorite aspects when it comes to reading one of her novels, I fall right into the world because she builds it up perfectly. Another thing I really liked was the fact that the feeling I felt while reading One by One are the same feeling I had when I read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.

Additionally, I really liked the tech company that was created and used throughout this novel. No only was it used to give structor to the story, it was fun to see a made up company and product that seems like it could really be on the app store. I thought using this company really brings it into modern times and ensures it does not feel like the story takes place long ago. It also lends itself to creating very interesting dynamics that are a key component to this story. The suspicion and high tensions within this story, it really lends itself to the narrative. It leads to emotions getting higher and higher and leads to hidden, deep distrust to come to the surface.

What I Didn’t Like

The only downside was I felt one of the two narrators, I was so happy there were only two main voices in this story, read someone what juvenile from time to time though not consistently. So, it really was not anything that ruined the story or pulled me out of it in anyway. Which, for a thriller to be effective needs to really keep you in the narrative, and this really does.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed this thriller. The setting was amazing, the atmosphere was palpable, the characters were interesting as well as their dynamics, and the story fully pulled me in. Once again Ware has proven to be an amazing writer and continues to be one of my auto-buy authors. Even though I received this book for free, I am going to go pick up another on publication day. If you want a good secluded thriller that appears to be a dream come true at first, but turns into a horror, I feel like this is one you should certainly look into.

Author Links

Website: https://ruthware.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ruthwarewriter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruthwarewriter/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruthwarewriter/

Book Information

Publication Date: September 8th 2020

Publisher: Scout Press

List Price: $27.99

ISBN: 978-1501188817

Pages: 384 pages

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Wrap Up

Middle Mark | August 2020

August 16, 2020August 12, 2020 bookishluna8 Comments

Middle Mark

Hello and welcome to my Middle Mark post for August! This month has started off on a great note. I have read quite a bit and I hit a few of my year long goals as well. I finally hit 30,000 pages for the year as well as finished up reading a book from every continent. Now, to continue to chip away at the others! Any-who, here are the books I have read so far in August.

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just the perfect eerie book I wanted to read. I actually got quite a few chills reading this horror and I am glad I happened to find it. The whole book felt heavy and it continued to get heavier as I read it. It is one of those rare books that really pulls you into the story and you almost feel like you are in it yourself.

View all my reviews

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As many other reviewers have said, this is a very unique read. It was imaginative, creative, but also painful. I say painful because it deals with a grotesque history of slavery and does not sugar coat it or hide some of the more horrendous actions. In addition, the main character battles with their peoples history, I don’t want to say too much because spoilers. I very rarely say this, but I feel like I would have enjoyed this story more if there was more of it. I wanted to explore this community in more detail and learn more about many of the characters. I feel like this was done on purpose though and when you read it that statement will make a bit more sense if it doesn’t now. But, I will say this, I am going to be looking into other works by this author.

View all my reviews

The Secret River by Kate Grenville

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It is very apparent that this author knows a lot of about the history of Australia the movement of deportation of those not wanted in England. This book deals with social hierarchy, laws, exploration, as well as the stealing of lands of its native people. While this book as a lot of academic value, even though it is historical fiction and not non-fiction, it was difficult to get into. I felt like the authors writing style was just blah for me personally. It read more like a textbook than an actual textbook, I had to really push myself. For me, this is a bit out of the ordinary because I love reading non-fiction and rarely have to push myself to read them.

I will say, this book is best read with someone else, this book brings up quite a few topics that are best explored and discussed. As said, it has great academic value and I feel like it show cases society in London/England as well as the early settlement of convict in Australia and the impact on the indigenous inhabitants.

View all my reviews

Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a good and wide ranging collection of short stories. They are just a bit out there and at times a bit of a horror feel. I felt that every time I finished one I just wanted to read another one. I always find it hard to review a collection as a whole, but overall I enjoyed a majority of these tales.

View all my reviews

You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance by Chani Nicholas

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I don’t feel like this is a beginner book, it does have a good amount of information, but if you are using this book just for yourself, most of the information is not usable/applicable. If you are going to do a chart for everyone and their mom, much more useful. Also, bring a protractor.

View all my reviews

The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Here is a little preview of my review. Overall, this was an average play. I didn’t see anything that really stood out and I can already feel the details of this one slipping away. There is quite a few mistaken identities, which we have seen a bunch of times already from his works time and time again, just with another bow.

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Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Shel Silverstein esc type pep talks that I just adored! I will be picking this up from time to time, I can see it.

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After the Quake by Haruki Murakami

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoy Murakami’s writing style, the short stories were varied, but tied together nicely. Some I liked more than others, but there was not one I disliked. I normally don’t enjoy short story collections, but there is something about hims writing that I enjoy very much.

View all my reviews

Currently Reading 2

As of writing this, August 12th, I am currently reading quite a few books. I was doing so well with reading one book at a time, for some reason this month I am having trouble doing that.

I just started reading me eArc of One by One by Ruth Ware that I received via netgalley. I am really enjoying it so far, I mean I expected to since she is one of my auto buy authors!

I am also 44% through Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer the newest addition to the Twilight books. Honestly, so far I am enjoying learning more about the Cullens and their family dynamics.

Last, but certainly not least I am currently reading Conjure Women by Afia Atakora. I am about 13% into this book. Conjure Women is a magical realism and historical fiction novel balled up into one. It follows a young girl from a young age until she is older, whose mother can do magic and she follows in her foot steps and acts as a healer for her community. The time frame and location are in the south during slavery and following after it. So, we get a story that not only of a family that is separated by slavery, but also a look into the practice of slavery. The author holds nothing back in their magical story telling and I appreciate that.

What was the last book you read, did you like it?

How are your reading month coming along?

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Hauls & Unhauls

Book of the Month| August 2020

August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 bookishluna6 Comments

Hauls & Unboxings

Hello and welcome to another unboxing of Book of the Month! This month I am very excited about the book I picked for a few reasons, the major ones I will get into more so later in the post, but one I will share up front is that I was able to find this new to me author! As soon as I read the description, I knew I needed to pick it as my book this month.

Description

One afternoon, in a town in southeastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son’s body, wrapped in colorful fabric, at her feet. What follows is the tumultuous, heart-wrenching story of one family’s struggle to understand a child whose spirit is both gentle and mysterious. Raised by a distant father and an understanding but overprotective mother, Vivek suffers disorienting blackouts, moments of disconnection between self and surroundings. As adolescence gives way to adulthood, Vivek finds solace in friendships with the warm, boisterous daughters of the Nigerwives, foreign-born women married to Nigerian men. But Vivek’s closest bond is with Osita, the worldly, high-spirited cousin whose teasing confidence masks a guarded private life. As their relationship deepens—and Osita struggles to understand Vivek’s escalating crisis—the mystery gives way to a heart-stopping act of violence in a moment of exhilarating freedom.

Propulsively readable, teeming with unforgettable characters, The Death of Vivek Oji is a novel of family and friendship that challenges expectations—a dramatic story of loss and transcendence that will move every reader. –goodreads.com

Why I Picked This Book

The main reason I picked up this novel is because it seems to have a huge focus around relationships, which is something that we all have. But, I always find it interesting to learn about how others balance their relationships. I also have not read an emotionally charged book in a while and from the description, I am picking up that this will be a heart wrenching one.

Also, I did happen to read a blurb of this book already, just to give myself a look into the authors style. From what I have read already, I think I am going to enjoy their form of writing. I can’t wait to get to it!

What was the most recent book added to your TBR?
Does this book sound interesting to you?

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Let’s Talk | The Bookish Baking Tag

August 4, 2020August 3, 2020 bookishluna16 Comments

Let's Talk Hello and welcome to a tag. I have not done one in a while, I am sorry! But, I was so happy when Alexandra over at Reading by Starlight Blog tagged me to do this. I love baking and books, so this is a perfect combination! Also, I want to note I made this a little extra challenging by only picking books I read this year.

☆ Thank whoever tagged you
☆ Link back to them and the original creator (Kay @ Hammock of Books)
☆ Answer the 12 prompts, and feel free to use these graphics
☆ Tag 5+ friends to share the sweetness

Norse Mytholgy by Neil Gaiman, I picked this one because the start of this book Gaiman goes into his personal history with Norse Mythology and it was really interesting and I felt it really set a great tone to the whole book.

Little Women

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, this novel will forever be a holiday book for me because it just feels cozy and it radiates family to me. This also a book I reread often and when I want to relax so either holiday meaning it has it covered!

Firestarter

Charlie from Firestarter by Stephen King, I feel so much for Charlie in this book and I feel like everyone should just protect this poor girl. I don’t want to say much because you know, spoilers. But, I just want her to be safe and with those who care.

Beach Read by Emily Henry, I mean the cover and title alone really say it all. This was a really fun and you probably heard all about it because so many people have been raving about it. It is a fun read that tackles a few sadder themes, but over all it had full on summer vibes and even a summer romance.

Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo, so this one I am twisting a bit. Raven really made me think about what makes us, well us. In addition to the importance of family. I feel like the, “who am I?”, “What does it all mean?” are questions a lot of us ask of ourselves from time to time, but I feel like it happens a lot as we grow up in high school. Like I said, I am twisting this prompt a little, sorry!

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, I read this a bit ago and it was a really fun classic to read. I loved that the narrator had a sense of humor and was making fun of the book. On top of that it was a very typical love classic into also a horror/thriller esc. classic. It was quote enjoyable. I ended up writing an entire post about this one, Let’s Talk | BuzzFeed Picks My Jane Austen Novel

Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri, this was such a great read. I annotated this book so heavily I needed to buy a new highlighter. This was such a great mixture of memoir and history of slavery all tied together by hair. It is a wonderful anti-racism novel that I think more people need to talk about and read.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu, okay, I admit this is not all fluff, but I just loved the relationships in this graphic novel and the support given! I just had to mention it, I need to read more by these two.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, the message of this book, at least to me, was savor all the time we get to spend with those around us. You never know when things will happen and you don’t want to regret not saying something or showing how you care. This was a beautiful short story.

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, this book is HUGE. Now, I love history and I worked with someone who also loved history at an old job. I knew their taste was generally similar to mine and they were having a hard time reading it saying it was slow and dragged. So, I was really afraid to read it. Well, years later I finally read it and this person could not be more wrong, at least in my opinion.

Girl, Woman, Other

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, such a wonderful book. This book was diverse in so many ways. It was diverse in so many ways, such as age range, race, sexuality, economically. It was a wonderful book and I will say, this should have been the ONLY winner of the 2019 Man Booker Prize.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, as you all probably know. This book has been on booktube, blogs, and just about everywhere I see books talked about. Well, I picked it up and I really did love it! This author is so talented, I can’t wait to see what they do next. It really is amazing when the hype pays off.

You!

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Wrap Up

Wrap Up | The Reading Rush 2020

July 26, 2020July 26, 2020 bookishluna15 Comments

Wrap Up

Hello and welcome to my wrap up post for The Reading Rush! I am still floored at how productive I was during this readathon, I have not done this well in a while. I also had a ton of fun with the instagram challenges on top of the live shows, twitter sprints, and of course the reading itself! Here is how I did.

Pages Read

Above you will see a daily pages read graph; Monday-272, Tuesday-331, Wednesday-240, Thursday-182, Friday-192, Saturday-766, Sunday-366. I read a total of 2,349 pages!

Books Read

Celtic Mythology by Philip Freeman
The Night Country by Melissa Albert
Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri (not pictured)
Teen Titians Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo
Firestarter by Stephen King
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
The Girl From Widow Hills by Megan Miranda
The Tale of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware (not pictured)

Badges Earned

Made an Instagram, Participated in a read in live show, Participated in Twitter Sprint, Read a Book Completely Outside of Your House, Read a Book in a Genre You Always Wanted to Read More Of, Read a Book That Inspired a Movie You’ve Already Seen, Read a Book That Starts with the Word “The”, Read a Book That Takes Place on a Different Continent Than Where You Live, Read a Book with a Cover the Same Color as Your Birth Stone, Read a Five Star Book, Read Over 1000 Pages, Read the First Book You Touch, Overall 2020 Reading Rush Badge, Make a Booktube Video ( I made an bookstagram video, I don’t need more social media), and lastly Completed 2020 Challenges Badge.

I had such a blast reading all of these books this past week, I read so much more than I thought I would, I was only planning on four and here I ended up reading eight.

How did the Read Rush go for you? What have you read this past week?

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Reviews

2020 Shakespeare Challenge | June & July

July 22, 2020July 23, 2020 bookishluna6 Comments

Shakespeare

Hello and welcome to my check in for my 2020 Shakespeare Challenge. If you would like some more details about the challenge you can find that in my post called, Blogmas | Goals | 2020 Shakespeare Challenge. I would like to apologize I missed posting this last night, but better late than ever. I decided to combined the past two months instead of making two separate posts. Anyway, here are my thoughts on Twelfth Night and The Tempest!

Twelfth Night

So, like many of his works, this one starts with a bit of a tragedy. I think this is one of my “ugh” things when it comes to Shakespeare, he reuses a lot of the same plot points, but dresses them up differently if that makes sense? Anyway, more on this specific play. This play was packed with mistaken identity, disguises, and of course a love story of sorts. This play really thrived on a bunch of misunderstandings and a lot happened that I don’t want to go into it because of spoilers. I will say this is not near the low bunch of the plays I have read by him. I cannot say no to some magic into a story, so that alone won some points for me. I also was not completely disappointed as to how it ended as well.

The Tempest

There are a few things I really liked about this play in particular the first being a ship wreck that reminded me of Odyssey in a way. I am not sure if this was the purpose, but I enjoyed the connection I made. I also liked that in this play there was also magic and magical creatures. As I said about Twelfth Night, I am always a sucker for it. I ended up giving this play 4 stars because I was a bit more into actually reading this and it kept my attention for than Twelfth Night did. It is one of the Shakespeare plays that I actually would not mind reading for a second time, I think Macbeth is the only other one on that list.

Next Month

What is your favorite work by Shakespeare?

What are you thoughts on these plays?

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Reviews

2020 Shakespeare Challenge | May

May 24, 2020May 23, 2020 bookishluna16 Comments

Shakespeare

Hello and welcome to the fifth installment of my 2020 Shakespeare Challenge! If you would like some more details about the challenge you can find that in my post called, Blogmas | Goals | 2020 Shakespeare Challenge. It feels so long since I started this challenge and I have found some I really loved and some I really didn’t enjoy. May was an interesting one fore sure. Before we jump into this review/discussion/rant I just want link to the goodreads group 2020 Shakespeare Challenge. And yes, I said rant this time around.

The Book

This months story The Taming of the Shrew. The title alone had me a bit apprehensive about this book, but my twitter followers picked it so I was going to follow through and read it. According to a quick search this was written around 1950.

My Review

I am going to honest, I am kind of torn on this one. This is really a cruel story in quite a few ways. A well off man tricking a man into thinking he is a lord just for the fun of it. Taming a woman and making her not herself like she is an animal. Just all around manipulation in this book. I will say it was imaginative and like nothing I have read personally.

This starts off with a noble man of sorts feeling like they have so much power and influence they can just totally mess with someones life with fun. It put a really horrid taste in my mouth. I am really hoping Shakespeare was attempting to ridicule higher ups in society, if that was not the case I might actually hate him. The fact that this privileged person felt they could just do that was irritating and I was so irate while reading this. Everyone just went along with it like it was normal! I don’t understand.

Now the whole title of this play had me worried, like I mentioned earlier. Lexico describes one of the definitions of this word as “A bad-tempered or aggressively assertive woman.” I will also put forward when I hear the word tame, I think of a pet or animal, not a human being. So, I was kind of waiting for someone treating a lady as less than. Well, I was correct. The shrew in this story was treated like a jerk, only married to get her out of the way so others could marry her younger sister. While she was not nice I liked that she was strong willed and knew what she wanted. Well, her “husband” and I put it in quotations for a reason, he just was hired to marry her to get her out of the way treated her like garbage and manipulated her into being brainwashed and subservient. It honestly made me super mad and I hated every moment of this.

The more I write about this story and think about it, honestly the more I dislike it. Now, don’t get me wrong I know this was written around 1590, women had no place in society and her not seen as equals and it is apparent in many of Shakespeares plays where the father and husband have the final say and such, but I felt like this play just took it to a whole new extreme. IN the past plays I have read women were still allowed to be themselves and were not manipulated in the same manner and just seen as a creature that need to be moved out of the way so men could get to eh more desirable sister.

I really don’t want to say much more because I feel like this is already a rant. I really am hoping deep down that Shakespeare wrote the play with these two very troubling plot lines where two people are just totally manipulated as social commentary and didn’t just write it because it would be “fun” and “enjoyable”.

Next months pick is Twelfth Night, a huge thanks to those who voted in the poll!

What Shakespeare play should I read in June?

— bookishluna (@BookishLuna) May 18, 2020

Have you ever read The Taming of the Shrew? If so, what were your thoughts?

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Reviews

Someone Picks My Books | Misty’s Book Space

March 15, 2020March 14, 2020 bookishluna7 Comments

Someone Picks My Books

Hello and welcome to another Someone Picks My Books post! I am really loving and enjoying this series so much and I am happy that you all seem to be enjoying it as well. This month I am reading a book that is picked by the wonderful Misty over at Misty’s Book Space. She is one of the nicest people I have talked to online, she is supportive and kind, and has a great taste in books. This month she picked Between Shades if Gray by Ruta Sepetys.

Book Description

Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life — until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father’s prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive? – Amazon.com

So, going into this book I was pretty certain I was going to like it for a few reasons. The first being, as I said earlier, Misty has a wonderful taste in books. So, I felt like I was in very good hands. The second being I love history and historical fiction. The third reason being I have heard a lot about Ruta Sepetys, all good things. I have always heard that she is a very talented writer and her work is well researched and quality. Quality when it comes to historical fiction is important to me since I studied it so when something is off it tends to ruin the entire book for me.

I just finished this book the day I am writing this and I wrote a quick review over on my Goodreads account, but I just wanted to elaborate on a few things in this post. First and foremost is that the author really lives up to the expectations that were set. You can clearly tell she has done her research due to the details that are present within her novel. I have read about this topic countless times and for her to add so much of the real world into this book, just made it is much more powerful and in my opinion a superior historical fiction novel. Her writing of this topic was wonderful and you can tell she was passionate and cares about the topic. I do not want to come out and say this is a beautiful book because the topic is just so heart breaking, but it is written so well.

As stated in the description this story follows a 15 year old girl named Lina who has fallen victim to the horrid campaign of Stalin during WW2 towards his own nation. This book depicts the horrible events that many faced who were educators, librarians, and anyone else who happened to have the wrong career. I don’t want to really say much about what happens in this novel and while I highly suggest this novel, it can be a very difficult read. I suggest doing a bit of research to see if it would be triggering for you to read.

As I said in my goodreads review, this book felt like I was listening to a first hand account of the things that happened because of the not well known actions of Stalin against his own people. Lina had such fight and spirit within her, but this book isn’t just about her. This book shows how a wide range of people responded to the events. It shows how they react and respond to not only the horrible treatment of them, but of others. It really shows the wide range personalities and mentality of human beings. This book is hard to explain and do justice because it is so much more than just a story, it is the story of hundreds and thousands of people. While this was a very heart breaking read, I really enjoyed it. I will certainly be reading another book by this author in the future.

Next month I am excited to say that I will be reading a book that was picked by Meeghan from Meeghan Reads. I am very excited to be reading her pick this April. It is a book written by an author I have read in the past and really enjoyed, but it is not a genre I have read in a while. So, I am excited to see how it goes, but I have high hopes!

Have you read this book? What is another book I should read by Ruta Sepetys?

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Hauls & Unhauls

Read 5, Buy 1 | January & February 2020

March 11, 2020March 1, 2020 bookishluna4 Comments

Read 5, Buy 1

Hello and welcome to a post that is a mixture of a bookhaul and a challenge update. This time I will be diving a bit into my Read 5, Buy 1 that has been going on so far this year. I will admit, this will not seem like much of a success, but I think it is.

Crime and Punishment
The Dutch House
Widow Weed and Weeping Veils
The Morrigan
Mythos
- Quichotte

Farmhand 1
Farmhand 2
The Wicked King
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Bonhoffer
- The Magicians Trilogy

Where the Crawdad’s Sing
God Country
The Langoliers
Ducks, Newburyport
The Unhoneymooners
- Prodigal Son

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
Little Children
The Starless Sea
Othello
Cujo
- Blood of Elves

-All Books Added-

The Night Country by Melissa Albert – PreOrder before challenge started.
Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz – Buy 1
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
One Voice, Two Lives: From Auschwitz Prisoner to Airborne Trooper by David Wisnia – Bought before challenge started
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie, Buy 1

The Magicians Trilogy – Buy 1
Imaginary Friend – Broke Challenge for signed copy

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd – BOTM

The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James – BOTM

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski – Buy 1

How to Read Literature by Terry Eagleton – Gift

They Will Drown in Their Mothers’ Tears by Johannes Anyuru – Gift

A Matter of Interpretation by Elizabeth – Won in a giveaway

So, I would have to say overall I am doing pretty darn good. I only broke by Read 5, Buy 1 only once since my BOTM does not count or at least I am not counting it. I decided early on that I am only going to get one book box now, since I limited it to only one book I decided that my BOTM would be a pass. As for my gifts and won giveaway, I can’t really count that because I did not buy the books. Also, I am aware I am cheating a bit when I count a trilogy as one, but it was a single purchase and I am buddy reading the entire series with Reg and Jenna. I can’t not have the books.

As I said, overall I am feeling pretty well about this challenge, I have not been perfect about it, but I feel like my buying has certainly gone down and I am saving money and my owned and unread books are getting a bit more love and attention. If you want to see a list of all my owned and unread books, you can find that here: Bookish Luna’s Owned TBR Shelf.

Anyway, Out of all of these books, which one do you think I should read first?

What is the last book you added to your TBR?

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Hauls & Unhauls

Unboxing | BOTM March 2020

March 8, 2020March 5, 2020 bookishluna4 Comments

Hauls & Unboxings

Hello and welcome to another unboxing of BOTM. This month I was very much in the mood for a relationship centered romance type of read. I have no idea why, but I just wanted something cute to read. It might be because I am reading a lot of bigger books that have some darker elements to them, or it is just my mood reading kicking into full gear to mess up my reading plans. So, when I saw they had a romance pick this month I had to have it!

Book Description

Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They’d been together for more than a decade, and Lydia thought their love was indestructible.

But she was wrong. On her twenty-eighth birthday, Freddie died in a car accident.

So now it’s just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob until her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to try to live fully, happily, even without him. So, enlisting the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world, open to life–and perhaps even love–again.

But then something inexplicable happens that gives her another chance at her old life with Freddie. A life where none of the tragic events of the past few months have happened.

Lydia is pulled again and again across the doorway of her past, living two lives, impossibly, at once. But there’s an emotional toll to returning to a world where Freddie, alive, still owns her heart. Because there’s someone in her new life, her real life, who wants her to stay. –goodreads.com

While this is a really sad and almost horrifying way for a person to become single. I am curious to see where this book goes because it does not seem like a typical romance or sorts, but it is labeled as. So, we shall see what will happen. I read the first few pages of this when I went to pick it for my BOTM and I feel like the writing style is up my alley as well. I am also intrigued because this author wrote One Day in December and I know a lot of people have read and loved it. So, I feel like this is going to be an overall good reading experience.

What is your favorite fully read?

Does this book sound like something you would pick up?

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