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Reviews

Carrie Soto is Back Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Carrie Soto is Back Review

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach. But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan. At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the ‘Battle-Axe’ anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

Carrie was so fascinating and entertaining to read from. I loved seeing her throughout the course of her career and her life and how at each of these stages she evolves and grows. She is unapologetic about her success and feels as though she deserves it because she put in the work and isn’t afraid to say that out loud.

Bowe I wasn’t as attached to at the start because he comes in a bit later in the story. I did warm up to him though and I appreciated how he challenged Carrie and he wasn’t afraid to tell her the truth at any turn. He really stepped up when she needed him the most and communicated effectively when he needed it to be reciprocated which was lovely. He was also going through his own emotional and physical journey before his inevitable retirement and I loved the way he ended his career.

Taylor Jenkins Reid so far is the only author that creates historical fiction work that I actually enjoy! This book was absolutely amazing and I loved experiencing Carrie’s comeback. The sheer will and determination she shows even though everyone is doubting her at every turn, having those negative thoughts bouncing around in her head and still prevailing was inspiring. I feel like you have to either like or have an appreciation for tennis to fully become invested in this story and luckily for me it just worked beautifully!

⭐️5/5 stars I loved this, Carrie is a breath of fresh air!

Reviews

How to Sell a Haunted House Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on How to Sell a Haunted House Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world. Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.

Neither of our main characters were very likeable in this book. I think because we get Louise’s perspective first we think that she is trying to do the right thing by her parents and Mark is insufferable but as the plot progresses we see things in a different light. She definitely gaslights her brother after we find out what Pupkin made her do at the pond. She keeps trying to dismiss everything that she is seeing first hand and continue in the delusion that her family weren’t weird and everything is fine.

Mark has issues for sure, I think he really needed that admission of guilt from Louise about what happened when they were younger and then telling her in turn how Pupkin also ruined his life. There was just so much miscommunication between the siblings that felt quite natural because of the different kind of upbringing they each got. I do feel like it was nasty of him to not share the inheritance with Louise at the start and have to be manipulated into giving her half so he can get help with all the paperwork.

All of the scenes in the house with all of the dolls and the creepy puppets were a little hard to envision in my mind. It was just too chaotic and frantic and I didn’t get to relish in the fear and horror of the moments, especially the scene with Louise and Pupkin with that sewing needle (omg). I would of liked it to be more drawn out and frightening in those moments. The rest of the book honestly was way too long, slow and kind of boring. All of the family drama though necessary in terms of the plot didn’t really capture my attention and the whole sequence with Poppy dragged on.

⭐️3/5 stars not my favourite from Grady Hendrix

Book Lists, Top Ten Tuesdays

Recent Favourite Heroines

by amyleighreads5 Comments on Recent Favourite Heroines

It’s Top Ten Tuesday time friends! This week’s prompt is favourite heroines so I went back and had a look through my read list from the last couple years and here are my favourite female protagonists/heroines/characters!

Nesta from A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Abitha from Slewfoot by Brom

Constanta from A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Quinn from A Clown in the Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Charlie from Book of Night by Holly Black

Olivia from Galant by V.E. Schwab

Alosa from Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Cora from Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

Fable from Fable by Adrienne Young

Addie from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Reviews

My Dearest Darkest Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on My Dearest Darkest Review

*BEWARE OF SPOILERS*

Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy… but she’s also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of a river. But something monstrous, and ancient, and terrifying, wouldn’t let her drown. Finch doesn’t know why she woke up after her heart stopped, but since dying she’s felt a constant pull from the school and the surrounding town of Rainwater, like something on the island is calling to her. Selena St. Clair sees right through Finch, and she knows something is seriously wrong with her. But despite Selena’s suspicion, she feels drawn to Finch and has a sinking feeling that from now on the two will be inexplicably linked to one another.

Finch is an interesting character for sure. I think when we are introduced to her she seems quite innocent and unassuming. She is very much a loner and wants to be by herself which contrasts starkly with Selena. A lot is revealed to Finch over the course of the storyline and she does evolve and become more accepting of her parents death and starts to live a bit more through the help of her new friends.

Selena was the more entertaining of the two perspectives. Her life is way more chaotic being the popular girl and trying to maintain her reputation even though it’s not necessarily who she is as a person. I think all teenage girls can relate to putting on a façade when they are in high school to try and appear more put together and become popular but Selena becoming a mean girl kind of went to the extreme. As we learn more about her throughout the course of the plot I became more attached to her and seeing how her feelings for Finch grew and her trying to push them away was very endearing.

The premise was super interesting, finding out about the history of the town and how everything connects back to Nerosi. I liked all of the representation within the book but some of the side characters weren’t very distinct and distinguishable from each other. As the plot progressed and we get more revelations it did start to feel a bit predictable though it didn’t shy away from getting a bit dark which I enjoyed!

⭐️3/5 stars was a slow start