Lapvona by Otessa Mosfegh

Format: 320 pages, Paperback

Published: June 21, 2022 by Penguin USA

Historical fiction /library

How on earth did I forget to review this book? Hell, even forget to put it on goodreads?! I did put it on insta, but here nope. And this truly is a book that should have been reviewed 1 month ago.

This book was all kinds of fucked up and to even explain it. Like wtf? Horror, historical fiction, and just disgusting. But also really well written. And I can not do it justice trying to write a review this much later.

There is really dark stuff like cannibalism, rape, torture, , and in all of this one boy is doing his best to survive the dark middle ages.

And most people in this book suck too. But why is it good? Hell I know. it just was just...yes like watching a morbid train wreck that you can't take your eyes off.

Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life’s few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him as a baby, as she did so many of the village’s children. Ina’s gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina’s home in the woods outside of the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place.

Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people’s desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord’s family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year’s end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world, civility and savagery, will prove to be very thin indeed.

Carole's Wednesday: The secret princess

 

Author: Melanie Cellier

Title: The Secret Princess - A Retelling of The Goose Girl

Series: Return to the Four Kingdoms #1

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance, Fiction, Retelling, 

Format: ebook

Pages: 317 

Published: May 22, 2020

Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon)

Summary: 

Princess Giselle is excited to be leading her first royal delegation--until everything goes wrong before they even reach their destination. With her rank and authority stripped away and her people scattered, she's left with nothing but a gaggle of geese.

Giselle is determined to prove herself a true princess--in action as well as in name. But to do so she must uncover a conspiracy that threatens far more than her own future. With her life in danger and only a talking horse and an irritable goose boy at her side, she needs assistance. One of the servants is willing to help her, but Philip's attractive smile hides yet more secrets, and Giselle is running out of time.

In this reimagining of the classic fairy tale, The Goose Girl, the wronged princess must prevail in a deadly game of identities with the fate of kingdoms at stake.

Review:

This was a book a friend shared with me that was a freebie for a bit. Finally getting to it!

We follow Princess Giselle is who excited to be leading her first royal delegation. She is ready to earn her title. However...everything goes wrong before they even reach the final destination. With her rank and authority stripped away by a curse...she is left with only a gaggle of geese. She is determined to prove herself a true princess and save herself from her curse. With her talking horse and a servant named Phillip...maybe this can happen. 

Gotta love retellings! They are always fun to see what the author changes...adds...etc. 

This was fun, but it felt super familiar. Did I read this before? I checked Goodreads and it doesn't appear that I have. I have read a different retelling...so maybe that is it? Mmmm it was bugging me the whole time. A lot of the "twists" I saw coming a mile away. 

Poor Giselle...she was easily tricked. 

I liked Phillip a lot, but you could tell he had a secret. Won't spoil what though. 

I loved the horse! He had me chuckling. 

This was a quick read and it was fun. It was super duper YA so be warned there. 

In the end, this was a fun retelling. It seems so familiar, but I don't think I read this version before. It is YA and pretty predictable, but still fun at the end of the day. 3 stars from me. 

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.

11/8/2022 Do you belong to any book clubs? 

Yes! One! :D My library has this English book club and we just kept on doing it.  It is perfect for me since I refuse to read other books than English ones ;)

11/15/2022 What activity that you've read a character doing in a book have you dreamed of trying?

11/22/2022 Tell us about your favorite books as a kid.

11/29/2022 Which books are you looking forward to reading this winter? (Dec-Feb)

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.

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The next best day by Sharon Sala

Narrated by Amy Rubinate

Publication date Nov 8, 2022

Running time 11 hrs

Publisher. Tantor Audio

Romantic fiction / to review

This was romantic fiction with really dark undertones, so dark that I wanted to cry several times. It was one of the toughest beginnings I have read.

It starts with a school shooting, very traumatic, and Katie suffers from ptsd for the rest of the book. That, together with her fiance leaving her, makes her move to a small town. To see if she can ever teach again.

Bad things happens in small towns too, though this time at least not to her. Just crime gone bad.

But she finds a new meaning in life. New strength, and a budding romance with the hot single dad across the street.

Very low on actual romance, and more on dramatic relationships and suspense here and there. But there is a HEA. And she so needed happiness.

I liked it, but that beginning is tough.

Good narration, she kept me in it all the way through

A fresh start for a young teacher to build the life she's dreamt of

A second chance at romance for a single dad

The warm and uplifting small-town community cheering them on

After two back-to-back life-changing events, first grade teacher Katie McGrath left Albuquerque for a fresh start in Borden's Gap, Tennessee. She is finally back in the classroom where she belongs, but it will take a little while for her to heal and feel truly like herself. She'll need to dig deep to find the courage it takes to try again—in life and in love—but with some help from her neighbor Sam Youngblood and his adorable daughters who bring her out of her shell, her future is looking brighter than she dared imagine.