Review: A room called Earth by Madeleine Ryan

Format: 304 pages, Paperback

Published: March 2, 2021 by Scribe Publications

Fiction

Library

Sometimes I just need something that is a bit different to get me going. And after having read this I realised that I do miss reading.

A young woman is going to a party. We stay in her head for the entire of her evening as she navigates the party and just, well exists. She is autistic and she is constantly watching what is happening around her.

It is not a book for everyone. It just sort of flows on as the evening progresses. She talks to a few people, we see glimpses of her past. But it is written so well and I could connect to  her.

A pleasant little book

A young woman gets ready to go to a party. She arrives, feels overwhelmed, leaves, and then returns. Minutely attuned to the people who come into her view, and alternating between alienation and profound connection, she is hilarious, self-aware, sometimes acerbic, and always honest.

And by the end of the night, she’s shown us something radical about love, loss, and the need to belong.

Audio review: Shield of Winter

By: Nalini Singh

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Series: Psy-Changeling, Book 13

Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins

Release date: 06-01-17

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Paranormal romance / Nextory borrow

I will try it make this short...not my favorite in the Psy-changeling books. It felt slow and I never connected to Vasic or Ivy. The constant check backs to the previous couple was not a favorite either. I liked those, but I wanted this book to be about this couple .

Silence has fallen. Psy are turning into monsters. The Es most awaken and try to heal the net. Vasic, an arrow falls for an empath named Ivy. And well, dunno really, but it dragged at times.

The narrator is wonderful. I do love Dawe and she is amazing.

But not the best book in the series

Assassin. Soldier. Arrow. That is who Vasic is, who he will always be. His soul drenched in blood, his conscience heavy with the weight of all he's done, he exists in the shadows, far from the hope his people can almost touch - if only they do not first drown in the murderous insanity of a lethal contagion. To stop the wave of death, Vasic must complete the simplest and most difficult mission of his life. For if the Psy race is to survive, the empaths must wake....

Having rebuilt her life after medical 'treatment' that violated her mind and sought to stifle her abilities, Ivy should have run from the black-clad Arrow with eyes of winter frost. But Ivy Jane has never done what she should. Now she'll fight for her people - and for this Arrow who stands as her living shield yet believes he is beyond redemption. But as the world turns to screaming crimson, even Ivy's fierce will may not be enough to save Vasic from the cold darkness....

TMST

 

 

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

6/27/2023 What are your least favorite tropes?

Least favorite trope..hm...oh! Bully romances. Like f no! Those are horrible. Same with toxic romances. Like I do not want to see an abusive relationship. I am old, just give me a stable relationship with nice people

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

If you are interested in participating in TMST or receiving periodic emails that list the upcoming TMST topics and questions,  please fill out this GOOGLE FORM.  Participation is optional and never required.

Carole´s Monday: Storm Cursed

 

Author: Patricia Briggs
Narrator: Lorelei King
Title: Storm Cursed

Series: Mercy Thompson #11
Genre: UF, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Published: May 7, 2019
Pages: Library

Summary: 

My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic.

And a coyote shapeshifter.

And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack.

Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn’t stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae.

The reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death.

But we are pack, and we have given our word.

We will die to keep it

Review: 

Back at it again with my girl Mercy and her pack. 

Mercy is a coyote shapeshifter and is the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. No one is safe as the human politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae. There is a storm brewing and her name is Death. It will be up to Mercy and her pack to put an end to the dark and save those they promised to protect. 

This one made me sad. It is raining Zombies here....zombie humans, zombie humans, and heck even a zombie dragon. So much death here. This one did deliver an emotional punch. I was worried about all of our beloved characters. The baddies are dark and evil and will do whatever it takes for power. Scary indeed because they have no heart and they will not stop. *shudders*

After the events of this one, I am curious to see what the human politicians will do now. I'm itching for the next book!

The narration was fantastic as per normal. This narrator IS Mercy. The voices are always on point and perfect. I can't imagine anyone else narrating this. 

This was good. Can't wait to start the next...I am FINALLY catching up. 

5 stars.

Challenge(s):

- #27 for Audiobook challenge

- #4 Library Love Audiobook Challenge

Audio: Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh

By: Nalini Singh

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Series: Psy-Changeling, Book 12

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Release date: 06-01-17 by Tantor Audio

Paranormal romance / from nexttory

I still have my audiobook streaming? site, oh damn, did I forget to cancel it by the way?! Anyway so I went for Singh. I read them randomly through the years. Then I started the new ones and devoured them. I did realise that I never actually finished the previous ones.

Well this got dark fast. Sahara has been a prisoner for 7 years and tortured. Kaleb was tortured all his life. He has trying to find her for 7 years to save her. Her mind is all messed up.

Damn. Dark. Their previous relationship is balancing on the edge for me. I mean hmmmm.

They are together again. He is darkness but wants her safe. She is falling for me. 

I should have written this at once. It was really good. Had me on the edge. He moves the earth for her, literally.

Angela Dawe is an amazing narrator and I have loved her Psy books so it was fun to try the earlier ones.

A dangerous, volatile rebel, hands stained blood red. A woman whose very existence has been erased. A love story so dark it may shatter the world itself. A deadly price that must be paid. The day of reckoning is here.

TMST

 

 

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

6/20/2023 How do you get out of a reading slump?

You know what, you tell me. How do I get out of this reading slump?

6/27/2023 What are your least favorite tropes?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

If you are interested in participating in TMST or receiving periodic emails that list the upcoming TMST topics and questions,  please fill out this GOOGLE FORM.  Participation is optional and never required.

Carole´s Monday: The world queen awakens

 

Author: Micah Swanson Harris

Title: The World Queen Awakens

Series:  #1 Agents of the Rune Stone Ring Trilogy

Genre:  Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, SciFi

Format: Paperback

Pages: 429

Published: December 15, 2022

Where I Got It: My shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for my honest and unbiased opinion)

Summary: 

An innocent princess possessed! The evil goddess within her is ready to rise and reign in wicked glory as the Last World Queen!

Then Princess Freyja meets Ambrose, the young royal tutor who is as lonely as she is…and who secretly loves her.

Her only if he can activate a ring of secret agents to combat her curse.

But their leader is long dead, leaving the operatives unknown to each other.

How will Ambrose assemble in time a group whose members each believe he or she is an order of one?

Who will stand when...

The World Queen Awakens!

Review:

I read the original version back in 2020. The author was kind enough to send me the new and revised edition. I was excited to dive back into this world!!!! 

We follow Princess Freyja. She is possessed by an evil goddess who wants to break free and reign the world. Enter in Ambrose. He is hired to be the tutor of the princess, but he is so much more than that. Not only are they catching feelings, but the evil goddess is threatening to break free to become the World Queen. 

This was exciting to get back into the story. There have been some changes and expansions. I could be wrong because ya'lls know my memory is lacking.... (it has been 3 years) but I feel like some of the character development felt deeper. Which was nice to see. 

I actually didn't feel meh about the princess. I remember, before, wanting to kick her and it took forever for me to care about her. Here...she is still annoying and spoiled and bleh at the beginning BUUUUUUUUT...I feel like I warmed up to her sooner. Maybe it was the knowledge I KNEW she would get better? Who knows but I actually ended up liking her a lot. 

The world-building is top-notch for sure and I enjoyed learning the lore, history, etc behind this world. There are some moments things slow down for us, but it worked. 

In the end, I really enjoyed this...again. Love the world-building and the characters. Such a fun time. I'll give this 4 stars. 

Challenge(s):

- #19 for Romance Reading Challenge - Teacher/Governess

  

Audio review: Shadow Wizard by Jeffe Kennedy

By: Jeffe Kennedy

Narrated by: Deborah Balm

Series: Renegades of Magic, Book 1

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Release date: 10-26-22

Publisher: Brightlynx Publishing

Fantasy romance

Borrow: Nexttory

A new series, but also a direct continuation on the previous series. So def read that one first.

In that one Jedren and Seliah was left behind to protect Gabriel´s and Nic´s escape. But things went south and Jedren needs to save Seliah. Which makes things go south even further. And then they end up in hell, not literally hell, but close enough. At his mother´s house. And that house is Hell.

This world is also hell, if you are a familliar. And in the last series we saw that Seliah had gone mad from not being bonded to a wizard. Jedren is a spy (and everyone knows it), he is also an arrogant asshole, but sometimes something shines through and it shows that he has built up a tough shell.

They have an adventure together, they go through fire together, and they totally get the hots for each other.

Great narration. This is my second audio by this narrator and it works really well. I wish I had done all the books by her

Spy, manipulator, traitor… He might be her only salvation.

Lady Seliah Phel can’t escape feeling like she’s one of those fairytale princesses awakened from a long slumber—except that her life is no romantic story and there’s no happy ending in sight. Though she has her magic and she’s been rescued from the depths of madness that consumed her since adolescence, Selly finds that the years she lost aren’t so easily recovered. Everyone treats her like the child they remember. To prove something—perhaps only to herself—she’s recklessly volunteered to stave off a host of monsters with only the enigmatically alluring, cuttingly sarcastic, and probably deceitful wizard Jadren El-Adrel for company.

Jadren isn’t the heroic type. In fact, he’s not much of anything. Relentlessly groomed into a shadow of a man by his sadistic mother, he’s the perfect spy and tool, with no real will of his own. When he’s stranded in the wilderness with Seliah Phel, he figures the outcome is immaterial. Live or die, it’s all the same to him. But Seliah is a different story and she isn’t like anyone else. Though he reminds himself she’s basically a child in a woman’s body, he finds it increasingly difficult to resist her artless charms and relentless curiosity.

As their predicament goes from dire to disastrous, Jadren realizes his many failures have jeopardized Selly’s future, perhaps her very life. Far from home and trapped without resources, Selly has only Jadren to rely upon—the one person she can’t possibly trust. There seems no possibility of rescue from their friends and family back home at House Phel, so Jadren and Selly must work together to survive… if they can.

TMST

 

 

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

6/13/2023 What's most important in a book for you: the plot, the characters, or the writing style?

Ok, so this is a tricky one. I need it all. BUT, I recently read a book and the writing style was so good so it did not matter that I did not like the characters or the plot in a way.

But a good plot, and bad characters and writing, hmm, no I do not think that can save a book.

Good characters are key, but we do need the rest too.

I have no idea, I want it all!!!

6/20/2023 How do you get out of a reading slump?

6/27/2023 What are your least favorite tropes?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

If you are interested in participating in TMST or receiving periodic emails that list the upcoming TMST topics and questions,  please fill out this GOOGLE FORM.  Participation is optional and never required.

Carole´s Monday: Some choose Darkness

 

Author: Charlie Donlea

Title: Some Choose Darkness

Series: Rory Moore/Lane Phillips #1

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary

Format: ebook

Pages: 307

Published: April 2, 2019

Where I Got It: Borrowed from the library

Summary: 

Forensic reconstructionist Rory Moore sheds light on cold-case homicides by piecing together crime scene details others fail to see. Cleaning out her late father’s law office after his burial, she receives a call that plunges her into a decades-old case . . .

 

In the summer of 1979, five Chicago women went missing. The predator, nicknamed The Thief, left no bodies or clues behind—until police received a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, whose unorthodox investigations appeared to unmask the killer. Then Angela disappeared without a trace. Forty years later, The Thief is about to be paroled for Angela’s murder. But the cryptic file Rory finds in her father’s law office suggests there is more to the case.

 

Making one startling discovery after another, Rory becomes helplessly entangled in the enigma of Angela Mitchell and what happened to her. As she continues to dig, even Rory can’t be prepared for the full, terrifying truth that is emerging . . .

Review:

This is the next book for my book club. I had enjoyed a previous book by the author so I was pretty excited for this one. 

Here we follow Rory Moore and Angela Mitchell. For Angela's POV it is the year 1979 and there is a serial killer in Chicago, however, the bodies of these missing women cannot be found. Thanks to Angela's unorthodox investigation, she is able to help the police unmask the killer. Still no bodies and she goes missing without a trace. In 2019, Rory Moore is a forensic reconstructionist. She helps shed new light on cold-case murders. When her father unexpectedly passes away, it is up to her to clean out her late father's law office and take care of his clients...she will find herself looking over a decades-old case and representing the serial killer from the 1970s when he goes up for parole. 

Okay. There is a lot going on in this one. Things start happening pretty quickly at the beginning, but there are some slowdowns which was nice. You need some time to learn about Rory in 2019 and Angela in 1979. They are both fumbling with life and what has landed in their laps. 

Omg....poor Rory. Her mom died a couple years ago, now Dad is dead, and then someone else she cares about passes too! Poor thing. She has a cold case she needs to work on and taking up the mantle for her father's clients. She hasn't used her law degree in a while and she is suppose to be in mourning. Lordiieeee. 

Of course, poor Angela too especially when you find out all the truths by the end.

When the big reveal of who the serial killer is I wasn't overly surprised. The person was super sus to me. However........there was something I was surprised by!!!!!! I can't say without spoiling. I still find someone sus of something. IDK, it just bugs me. Can't say. GAH so hard not to just spoil...okay. [SPOILER ALERT] I was totally surprised The Thief's business partner wasn't involved. I was waiting for an accomplice. I mean...he kind of did have a 2nd with his uncle. The uncle let him bury the bodies on his property. WHICH....what did he get out of that??? Sicko. But I truly felt the business partner was going to be a sicko too. [SPOILER ENDED] Okay, I got that off my chest. 

There is another reveal that I didn't see coming at all. Nice twist there. 

At first I was meh about to the two different time periods going on. By the end I grew to like it and understand why it was written the way it was written, but I think I would've liked just Rory's POV and to uncover stuff with her. Like I said...I did end up getting used to it and I did up liking Angela's side of the story.

In the end, this was pretty dang good. I would love to see this be a movie or show. Rory is a fascinating main character. And the twists and turns were good. I'll give this 4 stars. 

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

260 pages, Paperback

Published: August 16, 2016 by Penguin Books

Lit fiction

Library

Mosfegh writes very flawed heroines. Or maybe I should just call them real. Real life people who are dark and strange.

Eileen lives with her alcoholic dad. A shitty house. She drinks too, talks about her bowel movements. Has some really effed up thoughts.

It is dark, it is grey, bleak and her life is shit really.

Mostly we follow her under a week. Then she leaves. I would like to see what happened next. What she became. But more things need to be hellish first.

Strangely compelling

So here we are. My name was Eileen Dunlop. Now you know me. I was twenty-four years old then, and had a job that paid fifty-seven dollars a week as a kind of secretary at a private juvenile correctional facility for teenage boys. I think of it now as what it really was for all intents and purposes—a prison for boys. I will call it Moorehead. Delvin Moorehead was a terrible landlord I had years later, and so to use his name for such a place feels appropriate. In a week, I would run away from home and never go back.

This is the story of how I disappeared.

The Christmas season offers little cheer for Eileen Dunlop, an unassuming yet disturbed young woman trapped between her role as her alcoholic father’s caretaker in a home whose squalor is the talk of the neighborhood and a day job as a secretary at the boys’ prison, filled with its own quotidian horrors. Consumed by resentment and self-loathing, Eileen tempers her dreary days with perverse fantasies and dreams of escaping to the big city. In the meantime, she fills her nights and weekends with shoplifting, stalking a buff prison guard named Randy, and cleaning up her increasingly deranged father’s messes. When the bright, beautiful, and cheery Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counselor at Moorehead, Eileen is enchanted and proves unable to resist what appears at first to be a miraculously budding friendship. In a Hitchcockian twist, her affection for Rebecca ultimately pulls her into complicity in a crime that surpasses her wildest imaginings.

Audio: Grey magic by Jeffe Kennedy

By: Jeffe Kennedy

Narrated by: Deborah Balm

Series: Bonds of Magic, Book 3

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Release date: 05-11-22

Publisher: Brightlynx Publishing

Fantasy romance /nextory

This world is so evil. I just want to shake some sense into everyone. Like omg Familiars should be cherished and not slaves!

Gabriel and Veronica are together and happy. But the world around still sucks and there are so many dangers. Their bond is not real. He treats her too well, like wtf people, she is still his wife and carries his child! Ugh this world. It is very dark and someone needs to shake it up. Viva la revolution!

Then it got intense. So very intense. I wanted to bring the speed up on my audio, but for some reson 2x was the highest. I just could not sit still and listen because it was so suspenseful.

It was a good conclusion to this trilogy. But their story is not over, I already started on a new series as there is still a lot of things that needs to get done for everyone to be safe.

Good narration. she sure kept me on my seat.

Lord Gabriel Phel at last holds his dream in his grasp—and faces losing everything. He’s finally won the love of his wife, familiar, and mother of his child, and she offers him a heartfelt commitment he can truly believe in. Together they’re building a true house, one with a growing family of friends and allies that can help them stand against their enemies. And he’s learning to master his magic, to use it as the powerful tool and weapon it should be. But old and new enemies array themselves to take it all away.

Lady Veronica, now fully of House Phel, is doing her best to embrace happiness. After all, she has her hands full managing her mercurial and powerful wizard as he navigates taking his place as the head of their house, and with learning her own extraordinary ability. But she fears whatever peace they win won’t last long. When their enemies inevitably strike—including, perhaps, her own father—they must be ready to defend all they hold precious. It doesn’t help that her idealistic husband insists on making foolishly noble decisions that put them at even greater risk, nor that she loves him all the more for it.

As Nic and Gabriel struggle to put their household in order, giving ill-advised safe harbor to Nic’s runaway sister and risking their lives to save Gabriel’s sister’s sanity, their enemies draw the noose tighter on their well laid plans. When the unthinkable occurs, it’s up to both of them to trust in the nascent, unknown magic they’ve woven together.

Audio: She who became the sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

By: Shelley Parker-Chan

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

Series: The Radiant Emperor Duology, Book 1

Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins

Release date: 07-20-21 by Macmillian Audio

Historical fiction /loan

I love history, did I google? Yes I did! Was there an Emperor born into poverty, becoming a monk and then emperor? Yes. Was he a girl? NO, he had like a million kids on his million concubines. BUT, what if that boy died and his sister assumed his identity? A good twist (how they will handle the many kids that will come dunno)

So yes a poor girl is born in a village. Everyone dies. There are mongols, raiders, and rebels. The girl becomes a monk. She is steadfast in becoming her brother and taking his destiny. I liked her spirit, she truly believed she could just pretend to become her brother and therefore get that greatness he was promised.

Zhu never gave up. She became Zhu. She became a warrior. She did everything to get to that fate she was promised.

I liked the story. Though I admit, that with listening it was hard and I am unsure how to spell anything at all. When it comes to the names I would rather have read them. I think it would have have been great in print, but it was great listening too. And omg it would have been such a great tv series. I always mean to watch a Chinese, Korean dramas on netflix but never do. They look epic. And this was epic. With a sweep she killed 10 000 men, ok it took a bit more, but you will see.

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

TMST

 

 

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

If you could invite 5 authors (dead or alive) to dinner who would you invite? 

Omg, hard!!!!

But, Jane Austen. Yes, queen, that wit and just yes!

JRR. Tolkien. It would be so interesting getting inside his head

Elizabeth Chadwick, it just hit me I have been enjoying her historical fiction books for almost 25 years, and I think it would be interesting talking to her

Siegfried Sassoon, ok so poet, but hey that is an author. He could talk to Tolkien how war is hell.

And last, Rachel Aaron, because that would just be fun

6/13/2023 What's most important in a book for you: the plot, the characters, or the writing style?

6/20/2023 How do you get out of a reading slump?

6/27/2023 What are your least favorite tropes?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog. Feel free to leave your links in the comments if you are participating.

If you are interested in participating in TMST or receiving periodic emails that list the upcoming TMST topics and questions,  please fill out this GOOGLE FORM.  Participation is optional and never required.

Carole´s Monday: The Siberia Job

Author: Josh Haven

Title: The Siberia Job

Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384

Expected publication June 6, 2023

Where I Got It: My shelf (Publisher/author for my unbiased and honest opinion)

Summary: 

After the demise of the Soviet Union, the newly established Russian government privatized its industry by issuing vouchers to all of its citizens, allowing them the chance to be shareholders in the country’s burgeoning businesses. The slips are distributed among the population, and auctions are arranged where they can be exchanged for actual shares. For the country’s rural populations living in abject poverty, the vouchers appear to be little more than pieces of paper, totally separated from the far-off concept of potential future fortunes. 

But for Texas businessman John Mills and his Czech companion, Petr Kovac, the seemingly valueless chits suggest a lucrative potential, worth much more than what the current owners are willing to sell them for. They travel to the farthest, coldest reaches of the country to acquire vouchers for the country’s national oil company, Gazneft, roving from town to town with suitcases full of cash. But they quickly learn that the plan has complications--for example, the fact that the auctions at which these vouchers are traded for actual shares have been planned at the most remote, inaccessible locations possible to deter outsiders from buying in. When the Russian mafia and the oligarchs in charge of Gazneft catch wind of their successes, the stakes become suddenly more deadly.

Review:

After reading the summary I knew I had to check this one out. 

The story follows John and Petr and their journey. They see a lucrative potential in Russia after the demise of the Soviet Union. They will quickly learn that their plan will have some serious complications and even some danger. 

I will admit this took me a while to really get into it. The beginning was a hair slow for me. However, once it got its hooks into me....I was absolutely hooked. I stayed up WAAAAAY too late. Whoopsies. But totally worth it being tired at work the next day. 

What made this extra thriller-ish for me is knowing that this was based on a true story and I was able to resist temptation to look anything up. I quite literally had zero idea so I had to know what was going to happen! There was a moment near the end that brought a tiny tear to my eye. Didn't see that coming. 

What really surprised me was the sprinkle of humor. There was one scene that had me laugh so hard!!!! It was a nice surprise. There is a lot of serious-ness, drama, and financial talk so the humor moments helped lighten the mood. 

There were some financial talk but the author did a good job simplifying it so readers, like me, could follow along enough and not be bogged down by complicated stuff. 

Overall, I enjoyed this. The beginning was a little rough for me. It took a bit for me to really get into the story, but once I was I became invested! This was pretty good and I recommend it to those that like a little financial danger mixed with physical danger and a splash of humor. I'll stamp this with 4 stars. 

Best of May

 

Here are our bests of May! 

Best Movie of the Month:

Blodeuedd - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

Carole - 50 First Dates (2004)

Best Book of the Month:

Carole - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Blodeuedd - She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Best TV show of the Month:

Blodeuedd - XO, Kitty (season 1)

Carole - XO Kitty (season 1)

Best Cover of the Month:

Blodeuedd - "I do not feel I have anything to fit best cover."

Carole's - 

A blogger´s life

 

It took me a long time, but I reached my first blogging burnout.

I tried to pinpoint why, and I am come to a conclusion. I work well under pressure, I live under stress. But I have lost a lot of review contacts during my blogging years, and I was down to 2. Then I was down to 1. It was not the books that kept me going, it was more the OMG, must finish this book at this time!!! That constant pressure fed me.

Now, almost no review books, I had like 2 this month. I have gotten really bad at reading printed books cos I am so audio in love. Less time to listen at work, been bad at walking and listening. I honestly have not had time for books at all!

I did think about quitting. But I would miss you all! So I thought about it, so what if I have one book review posted a week. So what. I will do that, no pressure. Maybe that will get me back in the saddle. I do miss that pressure though, damn I got books read then

But I wanted you all to know, this has been months coming, I have felt it coming for so long.