velsbooknook's reviews
196 reviews

 Wow, that was a ride - in the best way possible! 
The story follows Loretta, a young mom in the 1950's. Living an isolated and uneventful life, with her two children and husband, until a local girl gets murdered and Loretta starts to gets visions from beyond.
This book was a mix of historical fiction, mystery and horror. I was captivated from the beginning and I can't remember a time I was that invested in a story and its characters.
The book shows the social norms and especially misogyny in the 1950's very well and it's making Loretta's life living hell. I think she was such a well rounded character and I was rooting for her and her dreams from the first minute. My heart shattered later in the book and I don't want to think about people, outside this fictional world, going through the horrors Loretta had to face.
I loved the side characters and even though this book has some very dark moments there are also equally beautiful scenes between the characters. 
The Devil and Mrs. Davenport is not an easy read but if you feel ok after reading content warnings I highly recommend picking this one up. I would love to write more about this amazing novel but I also don't want to spoil the story for you, so I'll stop here. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. 

 Thank you to Paulette Kennedy, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

 If you're looking for some rich people's family drama and murder go give this one a go! 
The book had so many characters and different POVs that I had quite some trouble following. They all had some secrets from eachother, were very unlikeable and I wasn't really invested in them. I had moments I really liked the book and other parts just dragged on. The pacing was very off in my opinion and I'm a little sad I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. As the secrets start to unravel and the big twist is about to be revealed I sadly was already mentally checked out from the story and I didn't really care about the outcome. It isn't a bad book per se but it simply wasn't my cup of tea. 

Thank you to Aggie Blum Thompson, A Forgebooks and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for me honest opinion. 

Tallulah is an Enchantress living in an abandoned greenhouse and when she meets Evren Fletcher, captain of the Royal Hunters, she thinks her time has come. A snow storm forces them to spend some time together and it is Evren's choice now - will he take Tallulah to Valebride to keep his oath?
Oh how much I love this world and its characters. The description of characters and their surroundings made me feel like watching a movie while reading. Any kind of magic relating to nature and plants is always a big yes for me and Tallulah is such a wonderful character. Seeing Evren and Tallulah struggle with the situation they are in was very captivating and I absolutely loved seeing them together. I wish the novella was longer. For me it was the perfect rainy day read and I can't wait for you all to read it! The pub date is Feb 28. It's recommended to be read in between Through The Wicked Wood and Through A Somber Sky and you really don't want to miss out on this sweet story. 

Thank you to the author for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. 

This story was very well done and kept me trying to figure out what was happening next rooting for a good outcome. 

Super schön gezeichneter Comic mit vielen Referenzen. Hat mir sehr gut gefallen! 

Very solid and creepy thriller. The whole setting made me feel very anxious and heavy. I was trying to guess the outcome of the book the whole time.

I have a very hard time rating this book so I'm not going to give it a star rating because I enjoyed it like 4 star read but on the other hand I don't know how some parts of the story went, which feels like 2 stars. It's worth reading but it has too much drama for my liking. I want more wholesome and cozy holidays novels and this one was other than the usual Sarah Morgan books.

 This was absolutely perfect! I read the two other young adult novels by Lynn Painter before and I loved them but Betting On You hit differently. 
First of all I loved Bailey and Charlie. I loved the banter, the tension, their insecurities. The strangers to friends to lovers - absolute perfection. Both of them have to navigate life after the divorce of their parents and I enjoyed to see them getting through it together. The story has 2 POVs and Bailey's and Charlie's thoughts and actions were very relatable and they also dealt with the typical teenager problems. I also very much enjoyed the relationships between Bailey and her mom and seeing their bond strengthened even though Bailey sometines was a real pain in the ass.
This novel was also filled with sooooo many Taylor Swift, Netflix, The Office and bookstagram references it was right up my ally. I honestly enjoyed every second of this book. I listened to the audiobook and I knew I had to grab a physical copy because this book just screams reread. The day I finished it I went to town and picked up my physical copy. If that is not convincing enough for you to pick it up I don't know what else to say. Definitely one of my all time favourite reads and a new comfort read of mine for sure! 

 This story was so fun and cute! The main characters Shani and May were lovely geeky, funny, relatable but also had their flaws which made them feel very real to me and I found my 18 year-old self on the pages from time to time. This book is filled with great side characters and I also very much enjoyed the relationship between Shani and her mom. I also loved the mix of christmas and jewish traditions and it made me really get into the holiday mood. If you're still looking for a holiday read - this is the one! 

This was so good! So relatable! I loved that it dealt with "what the heck am I going to do after school???" but also about getting closer to each other and bringing you relationship to another level.