In The Solarium

  4.5/5  ⭐ Queer Knives out? Sign me UP! This is one house that is full to bursting with secrets. One that Evander Mills is all to familiar with. One that cost him his job, his friends and almost his life. Being queer in the 50s was not just dangerous, it was a crime. And navigating raids and a disapproving population is hard. So finding a family that are all one way or another queer is unheard of and dangerous. Asked to discreetly investigate a mysterious murder, Mills is let in on the family secret and learns what it’s like to be surrounded my others just like him. And the safety and freedom offered to him behind those closed gates. But not all is well and he quickly learns that as more than just a mysterious murder take place. This was such a good mystery and having the queer rep made it even better. I was a little cautious with the comparison to Knives Out because I didn’t want just a queer book version of it. That would have been boring. But if you liked Knives Out, I...

  5/5  ⭐ Found family, a magical boarding school, and a missing friend. A perfect combination in this spooky YA graphic novel. Plus the incredible artwork is not to be missed.  This is one that caught my eye as I kept passing in the teen department at one of the libraries I work at. I then read the little summary and was hooked.  This story follows Abby as she learns one morning that the closest person she has to family has disappeared and feels that the school isn't doing enough in the search for her. And so takes it upon herself to discover what secrets this school has been hiding for years.  Accompanied by friends and a mysterious story from the schools past, they learn that the off-limits woods hold more than they expect when a similar story of a missing students comes up.  This was such an atmospheric and gorgeous graphic novel. And perfect for those looking for a more gothic meets dark academia story for the season.  Plus the characters...

  *Possible spoilers, read with care. 5/5 ⭐ Welcome to Shady Hollow. This village lives in harmony with one another until tragedy strikes with the sudden death of the cantankerous old toad that lived in the pond.  I love a good cozy mystery. Something lighthearted and fun but still thrilling and thought provoking. Shady Hollow  hit all the marks making this a series you won't want to miss.  I had seen this one on so many people's TBR lists that I knew I needed to read it as well. And what better time than during Autumn. It just felt right.  This mystery follows Vera Vixen, the local reporter who just so happens to be a fox. Having come from a bigger town, she seems much more in the know of what to do in the case of a murder than the local constabulary. Which is made up of two bears named Meade and Orville. They do get their chance to make up for what they lack.  Let me just put it here, the names of these characters is incredible and l loved the inclus...

   Hello Bookworms and happy autumn! I am back with a monthly update since I actually read something in September.  In September I finished 7 books. Over My Dead Body  by Sweeney Boo. 5/5⭐️ Cackle  by Rachel Harrison.  5/5⭐️ Can't Spell Treason without Tea  by Rececca Thorne.  5/5⭐️ Back in a Spell  (ARC) by Lana Harper.  5/5⭐️ Shady Hollow  by Juneau Black.  5/5⭐️ In the Company of Witches  by Auralee Wallace.  5/5⭐️ Secretly Yours  (ARC) by Tessa Bailey. 4 /5⭐️ Favorite: Can't Spell Treason without Tea. Another cozy fantasy that was just so freaking cute! Least Favorite:  Secretly Yours . It wasn't bad, but I am not the biggest fan of romances to begin with.  ARC's: Only the two ARCs this month. I tried to work through my physical TBR list.  Currently, I am on a bit of a cozy mystery binge and am working my way through Gunpowder Green  by Laura Childs.  For October my main goal is to ju...

5/5  ⭐ An atmospheric setting, steeping in traditions and folklore with a tightknit community on the secluded island of Saoirse make this adult fantasy impossible to put down.  Drawn together no matter the time or distance, Emery and August must face difficult facts as the truth about what drove August away all those years ago comes to light. Others, determined to keep the truth well buried will do anything to keep it that way. No matter the cost.  Young balances magic and mystery perfectly as the story progresses, reaching the climatic point that will leave you stunned.  This novel is not one to miss. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

5/5  ⭐ *Potential spoilers ahead, read with care.  This was so much more than I could have ever imagined. It left me in a state for days after finishing where all I could do was think about it. It consumed me.  The Change  follows three women Nessa, Harriet, and Jo. All at different stages in their lives but come together with a common goal to right the wrongs that led to the death of an unidentified teen that the police seem keen to ignore.  Not all is well in this picturesque coastal town as the women dig deep and investigate they are met with threats, danger and new friends.    Nessa hears the voices of the dead, Harriet grows more than one might think in her wild gardens, and Jo can channel her anger and rage into something fiery. And together they force to be reckoned with that this town is just not ready for. These changes all come about with 'The Change' or menopause. Or if you are Blanche Devereaux, "The Curse."  I was cautiously optimisti...

 4/5  ⭐ Sarah Pearse is back with another destination mystery featuring Detective Elin Warner. A family trip to an all-new eco-retreat to help reconnect and learn more about new family members starts off as they travel to the island clouded with a dark past. The cast of characters presented covers the gambit, self-absorbed influence who scored the tickets, freeloading boyfriends, distant sisters, and cousins with a tragic past. Take your pick there is one of each. And they are all stranded together on this island with a murderer picking them off one by one. We definitely get to see some character growth with Elin which I loved. Instead of being stagnant and making it a focus of her character we get to see her grow from the traumas of her past. As well as see how she does solving a crime in an official capacity and being backed by her department. I love a locked room mystery and boy, does Pearse know how to structure one. The twists in this were flawless and kept me on my toes....

5/5 ⭐ This was everything I wanted and more. I am relatively new to sci-fi and am always a little hesitant to start a new book for fear of not liking it because it ends up being very science and math-heavy. But whoa, when I tell you I fell in love with Murderbot and their just general attitude toward most things, I did. I very much enjoyed seeing things through their eyes and how they responded to the others and how they essentially developed their own personality without it having been impacted from years of childhood. Now they say they really don’t know who they are, they are still figuring it out and that’s only fair. How many of us know who we are even after living by our own prerogative? I ended up devouring this book in just a couple of hours because I just couldn’t not know what happened next. And if I hadn’t been outside when I finished it I would have screamed at that ending. It is the only way it could have ended but damn did I want it to go the other way. So very good. Recom...

4/5 ⭐ TBR: 9/13/22  Going into this, I was expecting something totally different and I wasn’t at all disappointed by what it turned out to be. Dimple Pennington isn’t an only child just like she isn’t really an influencer even though she tries. And after one tragic event pulls together all the Pennington siblings again, she’ll learn what familial ties really mean. At some times it is not very relatable and a little unrealistic, but it is also a piece of fiction so I wasn’t too bothered by it. Even with all the characters I really enjoyed the exploration of all the possible relationships and the very well wrapped ending. I love a good ending. Thank you to Scouts and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.  8/9/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

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...

5/5 ⭐ TBR: 8/16/22 Dark academia meets summer camp, and the vibes are immaculate. This LGBTQIA+ inclusive horror will bring the monsters into the daylight and make the reader rethink everything they thought they knew about the horror genre. With the genderfluid Mars and the rest of the Hive, each with their own purpose, this is one community... cult, that you don’t want to mess with. This is such a divine summer read, and I so enjoyed it! Thank you to Scholastic for access to the arc in exchange for an honest review. 7/27/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

4/5 ⭐ Meet Cassie Harris, photographer, and owner of Buxom Boudoir where she makes people look beautiful and feel empowered. After getting roped into helping a dear friend with her new lingerie line as the model, not the photographer. Oh no, that job went to her long-time rival in the photography scene Reid Montgomery. This story is filled with body positivity and very inclusive and I loved that. It’s still not as popular or a frequent thing to find as one would hope. The characters were fun and interesting. The romance itself was very fluffy and tropey I find that most modern romances tend to lean that way. Overall this was a solid romance and the ending absolutely made it worth it to finish. Thank you to the publisher for sending me the eARC in exchange for an honest review. 7/19/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

5/5 ⭐ In this mind-blowing sequel to the equally amazing A Psalm for the Wild-Built , Chambers has once again made me stop to think and question things I had never considered before. I am relatively new to Becky Chamber’s work but so far I have loved everything I have been fortunate enough to read. Chamber’s has a way of writing that makes you feel exposed yet comforted in knowing that the thoughts and ideas that have been plaguing you are familiar to someone else as well. In Crown-Shy, Mosscap and Dex are journeying through towns and farmlands on their way into the City. Mosscap is given its chance to ask the question it’s been holding on to and Dex is able to finally get the bath they so desperately desire. There is more exploration of the question “What do people want?” and in turn that becomes what do people value and what is purpose. I think, similar to others that have read this, that seeing Dex and their dealings with burnout in relation to our current world and own feelings and...

5/5 ⭐ A locked-room mystery in which no one could get in or out and with seemingly no motive for anyone to want to kill the Doctor. A real conundrum. I love a classic whodunit mystery and this definitely ticked all the boxes. The atmosphere and settings were spot on and left nothing to be desired in that respect. The cast of characters was intriguing and the author did a good job of making them real enough to not overthink them. There was definitely room to expand on certain characters but nothing that made it a disservice. I liked the fact that the sometimes sleuth was a magician. It was something totally different than what I was used to and made it more interesting. Also, there is a list of characters, which I loved! It was a little intimidating seeing all the characters but it didn’t get overwhelming. This is one, that will leave you guessing until the very end. Thank you to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. 7/12/22 *T...

  5/5 ⭐ This new cozy mystery series features the classics, a small-town life, beloved bookstores, and a famous cat. I really loved just about everything in this story. The characters unlike the usual disapproving and discouraging ones were supportive of Callie Padget, once a journalist and now a bookshop employee. The setting on beautiful Cattail Island was not one to overlook. Not with its scenic views and long history looming around every corner. And as for the mystery… It was one with many interesting twists and surprises and well, I didn’t see that ending coming. Very interested in what happens next in this promising new series! 7/5/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

  5/5 ⭐ This is a fun, fresh, and super cute introduction for this new manga series. And it will definitely be one that I keep an eye out for going forward. This series follows Ichiro Kuga who is a manga artist supporting his younger siblings after his father passed away. He has a fast approaching deadline that makes finding an assistant even more urgent. Enter sweetheart and incredible artist in their own right, Shiori Goshiki. Who ends up being more than what meets the eye. The art work is amazing, the story so nice and refreshing. And I just can not wait for the second volume to come. Thank you to the NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. 6/28/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

5 /5 ⭐ There is something magical about this book. Beyond the time-traveling aspect. This tucked-away cafe serves coffee and gives visitors a chance to travel back in time provided they follow a specific set of rules. In this first set of stories, we get to see how four different visitors use the opportunity to travel back in time and how it affects them in the present and future. The age-old question… if you could go back in time would you? What would you want to do, see, or talk to? This is a beautiful story that explores those questions and while bittersweet in parts is satisfying in all ways. Kawaguchi takes us on a journey that gives us a look into what could happen if you got the chance to visit the past. 6/14/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

3/5 ⭐ While this story started great and had some really great qualities, it, unfortunately, fell flat for me. I tend to avoid historical fiction and I had hoped that the murder mystery aspect would help. And I think it would have if it had actually been about the murders. But instead, they became almost an afterthought. I was drawn in by the attention to detail and well-developed prose but after a while, it was overwhelming and tedious. It felt like it took forever to get to the point and while some build-up is good, this was too much. This is definitely for someone, but not me. 6/7/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

💜 AHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHH Ahem. Sorry about that. I have a lot of feelings about this. A lot of them are just incoherent noises about how much I freaking loved this book. It was just freaking incredible. It is a comforting, warm cup of tea cozy sci-fi. First of all, we have Sibling Dex, our non-binary Tea Monk as our main character, who is in search of something. They don’t know what more they could want when they have everything they could have ever wanted. And I think a lot of us can relate to that. And while on the journey meets Mosscap, a robot who wants to know ‘what do people need?’. They decide to travel together and learn from each other. This story may not expand a lot on the why and how their reality became the way it did, which for some might be disappointing, but worked perfectly for me. Instead, this story focused on exploring one's self value, slowing down, and learning to just simply live. Cause that’s enough. Safe to say I am eagerly waiting for book 2. 5/31/22 *...

3.5/5 ⭐ Marked as an LGBTQ+ romcom meets 27 dresses, Queerly Beloved, is a fun quirky read. And it does hit the mark on the 27 Dresses aspect. Not much else though. I was really looking forward to this one and while I did enjoy it, it wasn’t all that I had wanted from it. The biggest thing for me I think was that it was marketed as a rom-com but it reads way more like fiction or a personal growth novel. And if you read it for that, it makes more sense. The romance felt like it was just there. Thrown in when it could help move the plot along. As for the characters, I actually liked them. I saw potential but they were not developed at all. Joel & Damien ended up just being the token gay best friends. I would have loved to have seen more of the found family aspect and that be built upon.  All in all, it was an okay read. 5/23/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.