For the last couple of years I’ve been doing this tag around this time so I figured why not continue with the tradition! See the original tag post HERE!
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Emily Fawcett
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
*BEWARE OF SPOILERS*
Welcome to Chapel Croft. For Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo it’s supposed to be a fresh start. New job, new home. But, as Jack knows, the past isn’t easily forgotten. And in a close-knit community where the residents seem as proud as they are haunted by Chapel Croft’s history, Jack must tread carefully. Ancient superstitions as well as a mistrust of outsiders will be hard to overcome. Yet right away Jack has more frightening concerns. Why is Flo plagued by visions of burning girls? Who’s sending them sinister, threatening messages? And why did no one mention that the last vicar killed himself? Chapel Croft’s secrets lie deep and dark as the tomb. Jack wouldn’t touch them if not for Flo – anything to protect Flo.
I really enjoyed Jack as our main protagonist. She acknowledges her past mistakes and still has regrets but we learn as the story progresses why and how these mistakes have come to pass and what she has done to atone for them. I knew there was sooo much more to Jack’s story that we weren’t getting right from the start and I was very gratified by the way all the information was given to us.
Flo is a typical teenage character and makes a lot of choices that didn’t seem very wise but I was happy to accept that she is driving the plot along and I probably would of done this same thing had I been her age. I’m not sure I like the fact that the visions of the burnings girls wasn’t explained especially since that was the only real supernatural events in the book and everything else was realistic.
I was surprised at every turn of this book. I went into it knowing pretty much nothing at all and being that this started out so innocuous with just some creepy atmospheric vibes I was shocked with the way it devolved into some pretty horrifying situations and themes. I loved the way the story unfolded and how we just kept being fed little tidbits of information until everything clicks and I was like wtf is going on!
⭐️4/5 stars I was on the edge of my seat!
Hello friends, it’s Top Ten Tuesday time once again and this week’s prompt is atmospheric books! Here are 10 books I’ve read in the last year of so with a setting that is very integral to the main plot and had me feeling the vibes:
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.
I really loved Poppy as our main protagonist. She is very self aware which I enjoy and most of what she is feeling and going through is so very relatable. Absolutely loving your family and their quirks and being so quick to defend them against anyone but still also being mildly embarrassed of them and then being ashamed you feel embarrassed. I think every teenager/young adult has felt these emotions and it just felt so realistic that this is highlighted as we look back. The fact that she is kind of going through a quarter life crisis after accomplishing all her goals is also very relatable and definitely made me develop more of a connection to her character.
We don’t learn as much about Alex as I would of liked to. Had this been a dual perspective and we see the war raging inside his mind about keeping Poppy at arms length as a friend instead of crossing that boundary would of been nice to have. He is very standoffish and aloof but I really enjoy the fun, witty side that comes out of him almost reflexively when he is with Poppy.
The whole premise of the book was highly engaging and very juicy! I loved the countdown to that fateful summer in Croatia and the fallout that ensues and how we see the two of them try to mend that bridge and gain some semblance of their previous friendship. From the outside it is soooo obvious that these two are soul mates but I loved seeing them having to come to that conclusion on their own!
⭐️5/5 stars I absolutely loved this book!
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
“He arrives at night, in the middle of a downpour, the type of conditions more suitable for a disappearance. I was alone in the lobby – removing the hand-carved walking sticks from the barrel beside the registration desk, replacing them with our stash of navy umbrellas – when someone pushed through one of the double doors at the entrance. The sound of rain cascading over the gutters; the rustle of hiking pants; the screech of wet boots on polished floors.”
Amy Leigh Reads 