bandysbooks's reviews
180 reviews

Everheart Dean has recently moved from Alaska to Australia. In her new town, she meets several mysterious strangers and life is initially good. When dark things start happening, Everheart starts questioning everything. 

This book was a joy to read. There is so much going on and Kingston does a lovely job tying everything together. It moves at a decent pace and I found myself at the edge of my seat to see what happened next.

I look forward to reading the next installment! 

Going into Hamnet, I was a bit skeptical. I love historical fiction and literary fiction, but something about it just didn't seem all that appealing to me. Finally, I broke down and decided to give it a try. I'm pretty happy that I did. I don't think this was perfect, but it was a good read.

This story follows Agnes (Anne) as she marries and then settles down with William Shakespeare. They have three children together, one of which dies due to the plague, and eventually becomes the inspiration for Hamlet. While William is in London writing plays, Agnes is grieving and trying to survive. The main focus of the story is really her grief and what she goes through after Hamnet's death. 

The writing in this was very lovely. I was surprised at how flowery it was considering the darkness of the content. It was an interesting contrast, but one that I think worked fairly well. 

The things that kept this from being a higher rating are as follows:
- The description was overdone at points. Others have mentioned this in great detail, but descriptions always come in sets of three. It wasn't simply good. It was magnificent, beautiful, and lovely. This can work when used sparingly, but it's repeated too much throughout the book. 
- Agnes is made into an almost-fae. She's sort of a wilderwoman who is at one with nature, makes herbal remedies, and intuits things before they happen. I suppose it was an attempt to make her standout, but it felt unnecessary. It gave me a bit of Mary Sue vibes initially because she's portrayed as innately better than the other women without much proof. 
-Shakespeare is never given a name. I found this to be an odd choice since I'm pretty sure 95% of the people reading this book understand it's about William Shakespeare's wife and children. I don't think it added to the narration by leaving his name out.

All in all, if you like historical fiction and have a particular interest in Shakespeare, you may enjoy this book. Just beware that it isn't written in straightforward narration. 

I love a good thriller and was excited when this start receiving a whole bunch of hype. It was a Reese's Book Club pick and I have really good luck with her choices, so I figured this would likely be good. Sadly, I was mistaken. This was like a lukewarm cup of tea. Not the worst thing, but not what you wanted and definitely not satisfying like a hot cup would be. 

The characters ranged from forgettable to downright annoying and/or obnoxious. The majority of the characters are wealthy, privileged famous people and the employees working at "The Club". I thought I would feel some sympathy for the workers dealing with these pretentious jerks...but nope. They were bland and forgettable. 

The plot...well...the concept is interesting enough, but not the most original. Everyone's on an island together. People start dying. There is financial ruin, blackmail, sibling rivalry and more! It seems like the recipe for an exciting read. Instead, it's lackluster, predictable, and at times all over the place. 

All in all, I wanted to enjoy this, but left it feeling meh. 

I read the Tattooist of Auschwitz earlier this year and was impressed with it. Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres, so when I saw that Heather Morris was writing the story of one of the side characters, Cilka, I knew I had to read it. I'm glad I did.

Cilka's Journey was brutal, more brutal than The Tattooist of Auschwitz if you can believe it. While the Tattooist centers on love and keeping hope alive, Cilka's Journey is more about the absolute depths humans will go to to survive atrocities. It is not at all an easy read, particularly as a woman, but understanding this type of history is necessary.

Possible Spoiler for The Tattooist & Cilka's Journey

 
Cilka is the victim of extreme sexual abuse and repeated rapes. In Auschwitz, she uses her beauty and wits to form a relationship with two high-ranking Nazis in the camps. She is derided by other prisoners for sleeping with the enemy, but in reality her choice is to be passed around and raped by all of the guards or to allow one or two of them to think she has a special relationship with them....and only have to tolerate one person raping her in trade for her safety and occasional favors for friends. She survives Auschwitz, but then is accused by the Russians of being a whore for the Nazis. She is then transported to a Russian Gulag in Siberia where she is to be punished. Again, she is faced with the choice of being raped by many guards, likely in violent manners or to accept rape by a single guard if she can form a relationship with him. She chooses the later and tricks a guard into falling in love with her. In all of these instances, it is clearly horrific for her, but the choice is black and white....accept violent gang rapes by whatever guard wants to have her or form a relationship with a single evil person and tolerate rape by him to ensure protection for oneself and ones friends. In looking into the historical person named Cilka, there were prisoner accounts that were quite mixed. Many people hated her for what they perceive as the choices she made, but many more talked about how she used her power over the Nazis and Russian guards to get extra food, medicine, and favorable treatment for some of the other prisoners. No one can be judged for the decisions that they have to make in these extraordinarily horrific circumstances and though you may think you'd never willingly sleep with an enemy, victims of rape who protect themselves in this way should not be judged. What Cilka survived is remarkable.

After finishing this book, I felt so many emotions that I don't know if I can adequately survive them. I never considered that there could be a worse thing than surviving a Nazi concentration camp...but this story makes it clear that the end of the Nazis wasn't a neat and tidy end for all of their victims. As with most historical fiction, I learned a bit more about a subject that I thought I was fairly well-versed in. 

All in all, this story is one of the hardest I've had to read, but it's also necessary. Sexual violence is unfortunately used over and over again as a tool of war. We must not keep silent about it. We must fight back against it and share these stories of brave, tough women who make it through.  

Eva Flores is a TikTok celebrity and recent transplant to the area. She gets along with everyone except for sullen, introverted artist, Sophia. Their rivalry gets more and more out of hand, but then Eva goes missing and Sophia becomes the prime suspect. The story that unwinds is unusual and unpredictable.

I really liked the main character Sophia. In some ways, she reminds me of myself when I was in high school. She sort of does her own thing and refuses to bend to what is popular. It makes her a good foil to the constantly dancing, bubbly Eva. 

As for Eva, I really disliked her throughout most of the story, but I believe that you're not really supposed to like her. She comes across as shallow and extraordinarily petty when she doesn't get her way. The levels she goes to to get revenge against Sophia are insane. I did find bits unrealistic, but I was able to suspend disbelief.

The only real issue that I had with this book is the way in which the story is told. The book alternates between narrative chapters, text messages, emails, and police interviews. The narrative portions also bounce between past and present. This, in my opinion, makes the reading a bit confusing, particularly in the beginning before we really know what's going on. I personally could've done without the emails, text messages, and interviews. 

All in all, it was an enjoyable young adult mystery that would certainly be suited to pre-teens and teens. It was fun imagining the life of a social media star and how the world around her would treat her. 

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this from the author in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are my own. 

I am quite the lover of historical fiction, but somehow have never read a book by Kate Quinn. I finally decided to remedy this problem by digging into The Diamond Eye. The concept of a bookworm turning into history's deadliest female sniper sounded so promising! Wow, did this book deliver.

One of my favorite things in the historical fiction genre is when an author takes an obscure piece of history and explores it in great detail. This is exactly what this book does. The book centers on Mila, who at the beginning is a young, single mother, dealing with a gaslighting ex, dreaming of getting an education, and trying to figure out how to be the best role-model for her eight year old son. She's still trying to find herself, but decides to become an expert marksmen after her ex accuses her of being incapable of being tough enough to raise a son. When WW2 comes to the Russian front, she finds herself at war and eventually becomes the most deadly female sniper in history. PERIOD. You would think this would make her hard to relate to, but I found her to be so realistic and easy to understand. Her motivations are always clear and her responses to things felt correct.

Minor Spoiler - Will not ruin the ending or entire story, but is a part of the plot progression.

 
 Eventually, Mila is removed from the war front and sent to the USA on a tour of Russian war heroes to drum up support for America to join the European front to the war. I had no idea that this ever happened, but after a quick google search found it to be true...even the part about Mila's friendship with the First Lady. It was infuriating seeing how the American media treated Mila, but also completely realistic. I imagine that even in this day and age, they would be just as intrusive and condescending.

All in all, I think this book was remarkably good. The character is so rich and real. The plot and settings come to life. And best of all, I learned about a piece of history that I was unaware of. I'll be continuing my research into it further because it was so fascinating. I will definitely be reading more of Kate Quinn's writing in the future.

Finlay Donovan is Killing It? Right? Not so much in my opinion. This book is just not for me. I went in hoping for something funny and light, but this was well past over the top, unbelievable almost to the point of existing in a different world, and ultimately required more suspension of disbelief than most science fiction or fantasy. It was just kind of messy, but not in the way I'd hoped.

Finlay is a relatable character initially. She's recently divorced from an unfaithful husband who left her for a younger woman. She's desperately trying to cope with now being a single mother to two very young children and building a career as a writer. When we're introduced to her she's stressed out, exhausted, and just barely scraping through life. She's still reliant on her ex-husband for financial assistance and he lords it over her in the douchiest of ways. I could 100% see Finlay in all of the stressed out, overworked moms that I know and was really rooting for her at the start.

But then we get into the plot and suddenly Finlay becomes wildly unrelatable to me. Without spoiling the plot, let's just say that Finlay makes a series of horrendous choices. She goes from smart, but exhausted to a complete idiot who stumbles her way through bad choice after bad choice and is only saved by those around her. What's worse is there's never really a time when she learns from all of these bad decisions. 

I did really enjoy Vero, Finlay's nanny turned sidekick. She was much more rational and kind of seemed like the adult in most situations, but even still makes some very questionable decisions too. 

Then there's the plot. It's a murder mystery with humor mixed in...but it's hard to take the bad guys seriously at all because they're just as bumbling as Finlay is. You can't tell me that on one hand the baddie is one of the most infamous crime bosses in a region, but on the other hand he leaves himself open to some of the dumbest resolutions possible. I had such a hard time taking any of it seriously.

The one saving grace of this book is the humor. I did find moments funny. Sometimes I even laughed just because most of the plot was just so silly. That said, I think this would've actually been better had she reigned the slapstick qualities of this back just a bit. 

All in all, this book just wasn't my cup of tea. I prefer a bit of subtlety to my humor instead of being beat over the head with it. I also find that if a book is supposed to be set in reality, I need it to have an actual grounding in reality instead of insane decisions for the sake of plot progression. (Clearly, I am in the minority with my feelings toward this book, so make sure you read all of the positive reviews for a balanced take.)

I chose this book for one of my book of the month boxes in the spring. I was super excited about it because I love Historical Fiction and this sounded particularly interesting. Unfortunately, after reading it, I found it a bit underwhelming. The plot was a bit convoluted, the characters weren't entirely likeable or relatable, and this was less historical and much more fictional.

Let's start with the plot. I think the most basic part of the concept for the plot is really cool and had a lot of potential. A Frick family heirloom of immense value goes missing and someone is wrongfully accused. For me, where this fell apart is that it took over half the book to get to this particular point and the story seems, up until that point, more invested in the lives of two women...the personal assistant to the Frick daughter and a random model from the UK decades later. Each has their own plot line and it's not until the very end that they start to tie together. In my opinion, the plot that takes place decades later was unrealistic and detracted from the story. 

The characters were also a bit difficult for me. I am under the impression that we aren't supposed to like most of the Frick family and that's fine. Purposefully unlikeable characters are fine. That said, the two main characters...Lillian, the personal assistant and Veronica, the English model were super hard for me to relate to as well. I thought both had great potential, it just wasn't explored. Their storylines could've been moving and deep, but I felt like they were sort of created as an afterthought to the rest of the plot. 

Additionally, this really is more of a fiction than a historical fiction. Yes, the Fricks were a real family and the location is a real location. Other than that, it's almost entirely made up. I guess when I read a historical fiction, I have the expectation that the story will be grounded in some of the actual history. Had the plot and characterization been more compelling, perhaps I would've noticed this less or been less bothered by it.

All in all, this was a middle of the line historical fiction for me. It had lots of potential, but ultimately did not deliver. It's not to say that it's not worth a read, but just temper your expectations going into it. 

Going into A Man Called Ove, I was worried that this would be another overhyped book for me. I see it everywhere and it's always receiving rave reviews. I've read a few of Backman's other books and enjoyed them, but didn't find them mind-blowing. I was, therefore, blown away when this turned into an instant favorite.

Ove is an elderly curmudgeon of a man and also a recent widower. After his wife's death, life has lost all meaning and he is walling himself off from the world around him in preparation for his own death. Things don't progress as smoothly as he'd hoped because his interfering, nosy, well-intentioned neighbors keep showing up with minor emergencies for him to resolve. 

The plot concept is simple and not entirely unique. (It certainly reminds me of the movie Up by Pixar which was produced a couple years prior to this book.) That said, Backman leans into that simplicity and just tells a really good, moving story. He doesn't try to make is surprising or twisty. Instead, he builds a relationship between the reader and Ove and the cast of characters that surround him. 

I was also pleasantly surprised to see this book touch on topics like ableism, ageism, xenophobia, racism, social services and homophobia. I did not expect this book to take a stance on these topics, but each one is addressed by little plot points throughout the story. 

The characterization was one of my favorite parts of the book. Each character from Ove himself to the minorest of supporting characters is vibrant, alive, and realistic. Not only could I imagine the interactions that occur, but I've actually witnessed similar interactions by similar people in my own life.

If you enjoy found family tropes, grumpy old men, and an easy to enjoy style of writing, this is the book for you! Don't be put off by the hype. This one is worth it.

Daisy Jones And The Six is a book about a fictional 1970s rock band told via interviews with the band members. It is a unique format for telling the story and creates a very interesting reading experience. It reminded me a bit of watching a docu-series that follows some old, famous band.

Daisy and Billy are the two main characters and I found them both equally irritating. Daisy grew up in questionable ways and is just a mess. She's constantly drunk or high, in abusive relationships, and completely unreliable. Only her incredible, innate ability to sing keeps her around. Billy is super pious and sanctimonious, acting like the group mother hen. Obviously, with such different personalities, there is quite a bit of conflict between the two of them. While I did mostly enjoy the conflict between the two of them, at times I also found it a bit exhausting. It's just such a dysfunctional relationship that you want to shake them both. 

The other band members are part of the story too, but to a lesser extent. While they have some good side plot lines, I felt like I actually would've liked a bit more about them. They were a nice break from Daisy and Billy.

I will say that I think TJR really nailed the 70s rock aesthetic with this book. It felt super authentic and even though I knew it was fictional, I could've almost believed that Daisy Jones And The Six was a real band. Clearly, she did her research for this one! 

All in all, I thought this was an enjoyable read that really nails the 70s rock and roll vibe. If you like music and personal drama, you'll enjoy this!