About

Hello Bookworms!

Welcome to In The Solarium. This is a space to share my thoughts and feelings on the many different books I read.
On this blog, you’ll find book reviews, monthly wrap-ups, and other book-related blog posts.
So grab a cup of hot tea or coffee, a favored blanket to tuck into, and enjoy.
-Chelsea

Add me as a friend on GoodReads or StoryGraph to keep up with what I'm reading!

A little about me:

My name is Chelsea(she/they) and I am a 27 year old librarian at two different public libraries. At one I am in charge of the entire adult fiction collection so as you can imagine I try to keep my nose in as many review and publishing sites/services as I can. And try to read just as many if I can.

In The Solarium comes from my dream of one day having my own solarium where I can read books surrounded by plants while drinking tea or coffee all day.

I have been reviewing books on and off for about 5 years. I started seriously reviewing when I graduated from my undergraduate degree in 2017 when I wanted to relearn to enjoy something I had loved from my youth again. And this blog was born out of a need for direction in the middle of the pandemic. And after one of my coworkers turned me on to NetGalley to read ARCs… the rest was history.

Comments

The Family Plot - Megan Collins

4/5 ⭐ A family brought up learning about everything through the lens of true crime. Murder, mayhem, and death are the Lighthouse family's close companions. I was looking forward to this book since reading the summary. I have a mild interest in true crime and was interested in seeing how this story would incorporate such a widely talked about topic. For some, true crime is overdone and saturates media. And if anything, I think Collins does a fantastic job of acknowledging that fact and takes on true crime in a new and unique fashion. We are immediately introduced to the main setting, Blackburn Island, home to a serial killer who was never caught and the home of the 4 Lighthouse children and their... peculiar parents. I thought that Collins did a good job with the characters introducing them one right after another without it feeling rushed or like we were missing something. If anything it felt as though we learned a lot about the family within just the first few chapters. Without ...

Up All Night - Laura Silverman

4/5 ⭐ Thirteen short stories exploring what happens at night. A perfect summer read for when you're not ready to go to sleep just yet. This anthology features a wide variety of stories all focusing on high schoolers/young adults and certain events or predicaments that they must deal with. Added with the I am not the most familiar with anthologies but I did enjoy the variety and that they were diverse in their characters and representations. I think a lot of teens would enjoy this one. I do think that some stories were better than others, but that is just my opinion. Overall, I really enjoyed this anthology. Thanks to Algonquin Young Readers & NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. 6/22/21 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

Gallows Hill - Darcy Coates

5/5 ⭐ TBR: 9/6/22 And she is back with another bone-chilling, keep you up all night, make your heart pound horror. If you’ve been around you know that I love Darcy Coates' work. And any and every chance I get, I try to get a copy to read and review. When I saw that she was releasing a second novel this year I squealed and immediately when on the hunt for the arc. Enter Margot Hull, daughter of the recently deceased Hugh and Maria Hull, owners of the world-renowned Gallows Hill Winery. Margot knows little about her parents and her family as she was sent away at a young age and never went back until the day of the funeral. When she arrives at her old family home, secrets long buried come to light as Margot is forced to face the nightmares that curse the land. This is a slow burn tense and foreboding atmospheric masterpiece. And what I thought was going to be a ghost story turned out to be so much more, in the best way possible. This haunted house tale comes with it all. A tragic, blo...

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