Review: Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

 

My second Ali Hazelwood and I really enjoyed it. I meant to read this last year, but didn't get around to it because my reading has slowed tremendously. I read The Love Hypothesis years ago on audio and enjoyed it and thought about listening to this but I didn't. 

Once again, we have a main female character in the science field and there is a brooding male character who always becomes the lover who is amazing in bed.

Bee is a neuroscientist at the NIH and she has just landed her dream job at NASA. She is going to be leading a project on a personalized space helmet for astronauts to fit their brain patterns. That is about as much as I understood about the science part. I kept reading for the romance obviously.

She then gets an email that she will be co-leading the project with a guy who she thinks hates her guts. She is constantly thinking and reminiscing about all the times when he was rude, dismissive and just uninterested to Bee. 

There is alot of fighting on Bee's part because when she gets to NASA, she realizes that she doesn't have a badge to get herself into the building. She doesn't have the right equipment she needs and she has an office so far from the labs. The tension between her and Levi and all of the roadblocks she was encountering was making me not like Levi at all and at the end, I was still on the fence about him and how he acted.

She then gets fed up and confronts Levi and she then finds out that NASA is sabotaging the BLINK project because they don't want to share credit with the NIH. This revelation is what sparks a friendship between Bee and Levi.

In Bee's personal life, she is running a secret twitter page with the handle whatwouldmariedo. It is a twitter page where women in the scientific field can air grievances on all the misogny and crap they have to deal with. There is a viral moment where a tweet about the GRE's to get into these prestigious academies are not even looked at and how they costs hundreds of dollars and the only ones passing these tests are white males.

When I got to the epilogue, I was not even thinking of all the scientific facts that Ali Hazelwood puts into her books. I figure that she knows what she is talking about since she has so many books with the subject as her focus. But in the epilogue, there is a sentence that made me question all of the science that is supposedly true.

The sentence says that Bee secretly got a marriage license for her and Levi and that she got him to the courthouse. There is NO WAY you can get a marriage license for you and your partner. In every state in the US, a couple has to be present. I looked up the Texas law to be sure and since this book takes place in Texas, it says a couple has to be present when filing for a marriage license. 

Now I know that Ali Hazelwood had to look up some of these facts about Marie Curie and her life and stuff about NASA. HOW could she not look up marriage laws? 

Book Happenings: Lore Olympus volume seven by Rachel Smythe *spoilers*

 Who the heck am I, immediately reading the next volume. I was in love with the ending of the sixth volume because Minthe FINALLY got turned into a plant. Now here is my dilemma... HADES AND PERSEPHONE are trying to change her back and she can hear everything they say because the plant shivers.

I feel really bad for Eros because he is keeping Persephone's secret and he is known as a big mouth and he is trying really hard to be a good friend but it is making others mad because he won't spill this secret. 

Athena and Hestia are a couple and Artemis is butt hurt because she thinks she is the only one sticking to the maidenhood rule. Artemis goes to Hermes who is very red and in a bath towel with a puzzle.

HERA AND KRONOS!!!!!! Hera is bleeding golden ichor caused by Kronos. Also Zeus just blowing off Hera seeing Kronos as a nightmare is infuriating.

I relate so much to Persephone's family. They are cooking with Hades and he is a recipe follower and minces the amount of garlic that the recipe says. Persephone's "sister" says that it isn't enough and that the recipe is wrong. I AM ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. 

Who in their right mind only puts in just a little bit of garlic in a meal. I have to have a big heaping tablespoon of garlic in my meals. Also a staple that is in my fridge is a big bottle of jarlic. 

Persephone's sisters are drunks and are currently drunk off their asses and forcing Hades and Persephone to dance. Daphne shows up with Thanatos and finds some lingerie. Also, Apollo's mommy is fixing to crash this party.

Hades has just realized that Leto is in the underworld. Leto is having a time hyping Apollo up and trying to get Persephone to choose him over Hades. And then dropping a Hades and Hera line that intrigues Persephone. Hades and Hera hahve been having an affair and Persephone is crying about it. Please girl STAHHPP! Ya'll aren't even a thing thing yet, you said so yourself. I hate girls like that. It just shows that Persephone is even more naive because she didn't consider that Hades would sleep with every woman with legs. 

Hades driving Persephone to therapy because she is insecure and overwhelmed. The  mentioning her previous doctor and the bad experience and Hades exploding and wanting to know which doctor.  So Chiron is Persephone's therapist and she is a girl centaur. How Chiron is sitting behind her desk made me laugh so hard. I was not expecting that. 

Hera is being seen by Asclepsius and the funny thing is I read his section today in Blook of Olympus that I am reading aloud to my kids. So I am trying so hard not to get tht e two mixed up. Apollo is once again trying to get Zeus's permission to marry Persephone and Zeus is dead set against it. 

The backstory of how Kronos was deceived by Hera and how she got her nickname the Golden Traitor was really interesting. Doesn't really fit into how Hades and Hera had an affair. Zeus basically "offering" King of the Underworld to Hades and Hades not wanting to be alone was such a downer. Zeus forcing him to be by himself and to take Kronos with him was a dick move. Hades wanted Hera to be his queen but she choose Queen of the Gods instead. 

Hecate giving Kronos a puzzle to keep him occupied while Hades became King of the Underworld is hilarious. HADES CANT HAVE CHILDREN!

LMAO... "Hello, I'm Persephone. Im a felon."

Thanatos and Daphne are dating.... so cute. Apollo got shot with the arrow of hate and a bunch of shit just went down that I am totally confused. Zeus has caught Demeter and Persephone now has to go to trial and Hades is pissed. 

Apollo is a sleeze! Zeus just wants to show off and have a poem read about the events that lead to the trial. I am beyond bored at this point because it is all repetitive. How does Hermes' story of meeting Persephone the first time even matter to the trial. This is so filler and unneccesary. 

Thanatos and Thetis throwing each other under the bridge and bringing Minthe into this because they are jealous of the special treatment that Persephone got when she first showed up at the underworld.

What the fuck was that ending. I am over this series. I cannot put any more energy into caring.

Review: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

 

My first 5 star read of the year and it is a nonfiction. I do rate memoirs based on writing style and interest throughout. I do not rate based on the life of the person or persons unless they are really shitty people... looking at you Charles Lindberg!

I have been had this book out from the library since November of last year and I jusy couldn't fit it in to my reading plans. I hate returning books to the library unread so this became a priority and I am so freaking glad that I did. 

I remember this book first coming on my radar when I saw the trailer for the movie a couple years ago and Angelina Jolie directed it. Then I read The Boys in The Boat and really got interested in olympians who competed in Berlin. I have not watched that movie yet because the edition I read was not that great but I did get the two confused in my head for a good while.

This book is about an Olympian runner named Louis Zamperini and he competed in the Berlin olympics in 1936. We learn about his life and childhood as a freaking hellian. He was a thief and all around bad boy. He was very close with his family and his older brother Pete helped train him and was all around his biggest cheerleader.

Louie ends up doing more mischeivious things in Germany and after his run, he met Hitlet.. I have to admit when I read that part I was hoping that Louie would not turn into a Nazi sympathizer. I got even more disturbed when Louie stole a Nazi flag off a building and the soldiers let him keep it because of how fast he ran in the Olympics. There is no more mention throughout the book of anything Nazi or Hitler. 

He goes back home and joins the military and eventually gets drafted into the Air Force. He becomes a bombadier and fights in the Pacific Theatre. He eventually goes down with his crew in a bad airplane that everyone was frightened of because it was bad from the start and then it was used for spare parts, but every plane was flown.

Louie and two other crewman survive and are stranded on a raft for 47 days until they wash up on a Japanese occupied island, and that is where his horrorific tale as a POW for two-four years begins.

This book gave me a lot of emotions, especially anger at the Japanese and Germans and my own Government. There were so many bad choices and decisions during the war that I know I would have never forgiven anyone the way Louie forgave his captors and the monster who haunted his dreams and got away with his crimes.

Right away I knew that I was going to enjoy reading this book because of how it was written. I love a nonfiction that is written like a novel. It makes me forget that it is true until something shocking is revealed and I have to look it up and learn more about it. There is still so much more to learn about WW2. 

I did skim some parts where it talked about the planes and schematics of the bombers. I just didn't care about that. 

I can't wait to watch the movie and apparently there was a sequel made that is about Louie being freed and how he acclimated back into civilian life. 

Review: Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

 

The first ever Shakespeare that I read was Macbeth and that was a couple years ago. It was an instant favorite because of the setting and the witches and the madness. I was so excited to read this it was an anticipated read for last year. I ended up giving it 3 stars. 

I was not expecting it to be so feminist but it is a retelling, so that is not a con. I did have a problem with the constant mention of bloody thighs and how there was no women to be found in Macbeth's court.

I enjoyed and appreciated the glossary at the beginning and it was utilized in the first few chapters. The numerous names that Roscille had was very confusing and whenever one was used, I did not know who was being talked about.

Roscille is essentially sold to Macbeth by her father in an arranged marriage because they are allies. Roscille shows up with her handmaiden who has been disguised to look like Roscille because Macbeth is that paranoid already. Hawise the handmaiden is carted off one at the castle and never seen again. Roscille assumes that she was pushed off a cliff and died. 

Roscille is shown her chamber that has no window and they are wed. Macbeth takes her to his secret lair where he has chained three witches in a black darkness that is filled with sea water. They do his laundry and give him his prophecies.

Roscille then requests a ruby necklace from Macbeth and he goes to battle against a neighboring clan and becomes the Thane of Cawdor after he murders that clan leader. While he is gone, Roscille tries to befriend the young son of Banqhuo and they hatch a plot and hurt each other to try to stir up conflict for Macbeth.

This book was all one big cluster fuck of bad decisions and guilt. Roscille is basically a puppet sometimes for Macbeth and she falls hard for Lisander and learns a secret of his identity. 

Book Happenings: Lore Olympus volume 6 by Rachel Smythe *spoilers*

 

It has been a year since rading volume 5 and once again I forgot everything that has happened. This is a forgettable series and after I read this volume and volume 7 that I have out from the library, I will be saying goodbye to this series.

The first episode is completely understandable and I know why Zeus is being hard on Persephone. I laughed so hard when Poseidon showed up with one of his little babies. The following chapters follow Persephone on the run and I can't remember what finally made her run. This series is awful about reminders from the previous volumes, but I do understand that this was a webtoon and people could binge the episodes and understand the whole dame thing.

I am getting really annoyed with the slow burn in EVERYTHING. Hades constantly saying the same thing over and over before she starts talking about her side of the story. Let her start and stop babying the girl. She needs to grow up and stop being expected to continue being babyed. 

OK... she is telling her story and when she finishes, Hades bring up a tape and they start watching it and she starts laughing and Hades feels shame. Like what the hell just happened. That was not a smooth transition at all and I am more confused than ever.

I got a little giggle when Hades was trying to find the right room for him to bare his soul to Persephone and she was so whiplashed. A powerful god having trouble bearing his soul when HE judges souls. Hypocrite!

Can Persephone just turn Minthe into a plant already. Geez the girl is desperate. Hades needs to go ahead and fire this broad. The whole big bath thing and a wall being erected between Persephone and Hades was funny.... until Hades asked if Persephone had a brother. WHAT??????? All of yall are related. 

Also the zoom meeting was funny. Did not recognize the one called Biggest_Dickest until he mentioned a joint rampage with Persephone and then it clicked that it was Ares...lol. 

Hera confronting Persephone about Apollo's attack and finding out about the photos is a weight of the reading shoulders, but I really want to see Hades bash some heads in when he finds out. Also Persephone didn't even consider that staying with a man after her attack would be weird and now I fear that since that thought is in her head, everything is going to be even more slow burn.

THE DIAMOND GOLF!!! I am cackling at Hades reaction to Persephone smashing that window. 

Apollo going on a date with Daphne and then talking about Persephone and asking her if she would consider a pixie cut.... REALLY? Yuck! 

Hera turning in the Satyr receptionist into a duck for trying to sell Persephone's stuff and leaving him as a duck. Farewell Bad Duck.

I relate so hard with Persephone. She got an adrenaline rush to go shopping and when they get there, she gets overwhelmed and wants to go home..... SAME! I want to spend money, but I don't want to spend money. I am dying over Hades asking if she wants the black gel pen of the fluffy pink one and then saying she can get both. I can't with this dude. 

Leto and Apollo are in on the takeover of Zeus. That is fucked up and once again I am intrigued in what will happen. Hades having a bad dream and creepin on her door and the dog barking and waking her up... so relatable. Also the dog being pissed off about being pushed out of the bed is my cat when she is in the way of my hubby.

I definitely have a void face with my hubby. How did this get so relatable all of a sudden?

I do not understand the whole Minthe being a car model. Is that her meeting Hades for the first time, so this us a big let down. It takes me out of the story again. EWWWWW, Hades called her tadpole. Cerberus is wearing the hat. It is so freaking tiny.

Persephone is finally going off on Minthe.... I AM SCREAMING!!!!!! Fucking finally, she is a plant. 

Review: Hush Collection (amazon)

 

It is New Years Eve and I am trying to reach my 100 book goal before midnight which is in less than 3 hours. I have had this collection on my kindle since it released in 2020 and it is finally time to read it. They are short stories and as a fan of short stories some of the time, I thought this one was ok. When I started reading it, I was picturing a fantasy world at war. Then it became a guessing game of which war after I learned it was not a fantasy world. I thought it would be World War 2 when the soldiers were mentioned. Then the main character Leah said that she saw bombings on tv and then I thought of Vietnam or the Irag war. 

Learning what was actually going on with these characters and how they were brought up, made me feel real bad about the way the father treated them and how mentally ill he was. 

The second title in the Hush collection and it was a 2 star for me. It is set in Nigeria and the main character Tresure is an Instagram influencer.. or that is what she wants to be. She is a fake wanna be who is an actual house girl for the rich folks of Nigeria and she is wearing their clothes and jewelry and pretending to be rich. 

The only followers she is attracting are men and one of them who is known in the story only by his instagram handle becomes obsessed. He is illiterate and has to have his 11year old neighbor help him reply and send messages to her. He is constantly checking her page and one day she is not careful and the location of the house is tagged in her photo. 

He decides to go see her and ask her daddy for marriage. He is so stupid and can't put two and two together when he sees her in simple clothes and no pictures of her on the walls as he gets into the house. 

This was a story that just rubbed me the wrong way and what I hate in the real world. People in developing countries who don't know any better and think they can get their way with violence and steal and that what they see online is real.

Third in the collection and it got a three star. I usually stay away from books with the cheating element because being cheated on especially through text is very triggering to me. The main character is a wife who has been accused of "spying" on her husband before and he was cheating and talking to a woman that he worked with. 

He is once again talking to this woman after working with her once again and he has a second phone, a burner phone. The wife is reading through the texts and seeing that he is really a imcompetent fool who can't read between the lines. The woman he is texting only text back simple sentences and one word replies, and he shows his age where he texts a full novel. It was really digusting. 

The wife decided to get her own burner and pretend to be the woman and things excalate from there. The second thing that I didn't like was that the #metoo movement was constantly being brought up and it was irrelevant to the story. 

I did enjoy the ending because the guy got what he deserved and I would like to have another short story about the art business that was involved.

My 100th read for 2024 and it is the 5th installment in the Hush collection. I skipped the 4th book because it was the longest in the collection and I was on a time crunch. But that will be the next review after this one. So far, this installment is my favorite. I gave it 4 stars. 

It is about an actress named Lyla who is on the red carpet at a movie premiere and her phone is blowing up. She gets approached by Scotland Yard to inform her that her eight year olf daughter has gone missing. She flies back home and it is 5 days later where things happen. Her husband Nolan is approached by his bodyguard and told about a psychic that can help find Fidelity. 

The parents go to the psychic and Lyla is immediately wary because the guy starts spewing things that terrify and hit close to the truth with Lyla. We find out what really happend the year that Lyla disappeared from Hollywood and things take a turn. I was satisfied with this ending and this is one of the few short stories that I do not need any more of the story because it was perfect.

Another 4 star read in this collection. This is the longest and honestly, I wanted it to be longer. I really enjoyed it but there was one thing that really didn't mix well and that was one of the plot points. This book starts off with a guy being kidnapped by someone called the gravedigger. He then leaves clues to the location of the person. The clues are limericks and they are easy to solve. 

I just did not like the name gravedigger and the limerick clues together because it was beyond stupid.

 After the second kidnapped victim is found, the rest of the story is focused from the POV of an old journalist who is about to retire because everything is going online and all blog content. He is researching and following leads on the kidnap victims and following up on witnesses. He obviously gets to close and gets whacked. I will leave the rest of the plot un announced because I have spoiled enough. 

The last story in the Hush Collection and I gave it a three. This was another long one coming in at 61 pages. It did not have any breaks or chapters. It was a continuous story and it was very dragged out. 

It is about a guy who has girl problems and he tried to unalive himself because she did not want to be with him anymore and he was becoming abusive. The story takes place a year after the event and he is trying to get his life together and stop thinking about Anisa. He is stalking her instagram which is not allowed because of her restraining order. She has moved on and cut off all contact with everyone. 

Will is becoming more and more paranoid that something has happened to her and he notices that all of her old pictures are being recycled. He meets up with a former friend named Emily and they start looking closer at the pictures and decide to go look for her to see if she is realy ok. 

They go to his family home in the country and it is the place where Will's sister died of an accidental drowning. The funny thing is that everyone used to say that Anisa was the spitting image of Will's sister and that maybe he killed her, but he was so young.

The ending was totally predictable and it makes me wonder if Will actually had something to do with Claire's death and why would Anisa suddenly like Will's instagram picture at the end if she cut off contact with everyone. Also, what happened to Emily totally gives away the answers to every single thing. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR// Sunday Post #73

 

 The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly from The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

This week has been a long but good relaxing one. My hubby had to go back to work this week and it was dead. He didn't have anything to do, so that meant sitting in the office and cleaning his part of the warehouse. 

I have been reading my stack of library books and I have already finished two books so far for the new year.

Besides reading, we have been gearing up and getting ready for the second half of the school year. I homeschool my kids and we are counting down the days till May 9th, which is our 180th day. But we are looking forward to some special days coming up next month. We are especially looking forward to the new Captain America movie coming out next month. 

On Friday, we went to the zoo because they do free fridays in the months of January and February and we took advantage because we had not been since December 2023. We finally got to see the Giant Pacific Octopus that had been delayed and she is a stunner. She was asleep when we got to see her but she was massive. We got to the zoo just an hour before closing time and all of the animals were either napping or running to their doors to be let back in. It was also a very windy day. 

We also have a new cat that is hanging around outside. He has been wandering the neighborhood and it actually scared my uncle and made him think that my indoor cat got out. My husband got him to come to us and we fed him and apparently that was the way to his heart because we are his now...lol. 

When we first got a good look at him while he was eating we noticed his eyes and right away, I named him. 

His name is Raymond. If any of yall have played Animal Crossing: New Horizons then you know the cat with the Heterochromia eyes. His is my favorite villager and the name stuck because everytime we say it, he comes running. We say anything else, he stays put. 

He has not come into the house because he is not fixed and I do not want him spraying, so if he sticks around he will be getting fixed during our spring break in March. Until then, we have set up a little cozy and warm area for him in our shop because the temps are going to be below freezing all this week. 

Hope everyone has a good week ahead. 

BLOG TOUR: My Best Friend Is An Eldritch Horror by Actus

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the MY BEST FRIEND IS AN ELDRITCH HORROR (Light Novel) by ACTUS Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: MY BEST FRIEND IS AN ELDRITCH HORROR (Light Novel)

Authors: ACTUS & Kisaragipana (Illustrator)

Pub. Date: December 3, 2024

Publisher: VAULT BOOKS (an imprint of Vault Comics)

Formats:  Paperback

Pages: 256

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Indigo, BAM, Bookshop, Blackwells

MAGE ERRANT meets THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME in the bestselling LitRPG Fantasy Action Adventureseries MY BEST FRIEND IS AN ELDRITCH HORROR - in print and as a Light Novel for the very first time with MY BEST FRIEND IS AN ELDRITCH HORROR (Light Novel) Vol. 1 from Vault Books!

Damien nearly ended the world. Now, his mistake might be the only thing that can save it.

Good things come to those who wait. Damien Vale didn’t, and he ended up bound to an Eldritch creature from beyond the reaches of space. It has lived since the dawn of time, seen the world born and destroyed countless times, and wants to be called Henry.

Unusual companion or not, Damien was still determined to go to a mage college and study magic. He wants nothing more than to live a normal life as a researcher, but if Henry’s true nature is revealed, he’ll be killed.

To top it all off, Damien’s teacher is a madman from the front lines of war, his alcoholic dean suspects something is awry with his companion, and Blackmist might possibly be the worst school in history. Damien has to prevent the end of the world, but he isn’t even sure he’s going to make it through Year One at Blackmist.

My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror is a slice-of-life mixed with LitRPG in a magic school setting. A slow build power fantasy from Actus, the bestselling author of Morcster Chef.

It's perfect for fans of My Hero Academia, Will Wight's Cradle series, Iron Prince, Mage Errant, Mark of the Fool, Steamforged Sorcery, Astra Academy series/ Academy Aracanist, Sufficiently Advanced Magic, Sword Art Online, Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Destiny Cycle series/Forge of Destiny, Spice and Wolf; Paranoid Mage, Morcster Chef, Mark of Ascension, Warformed: Stormweaver series/Iron Prince, Schooled in Magic, He Who Fights With Monsters, My Necromancer Class, All the Skills, the Gunmetal Gods Saga, The Beginning After the End, the Solo Leveling series, Monstress (Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda), as well as Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe, Dungeons and Dragons, and The Scholomance Series (Naomi Novik).

ACTUS is the author of multiple bestselling, record-breaking LitRPG adventure/fantasy progression series such as: GLEAM, MORCSTER CHEF, MY BEST FRIEND IS AN ELDRITCH HORROR, SHATTERED SYSTEM, STEAMFORGED SORCERY, and his latest hit fantasy progression epic: THE RUNEBOUND PROFESSOR. from Aethon Books.


Book Trailer:

 

About Actus:

Actus has been writing fantasy stories since the age of twelve, and he's been telling them since he could talk. He's currently working on three main series - Return of the Runebound Professor, Gleam, and Rise of the Living Forge. He has also written & completed Morcster Chef, My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror, and Steamforged Sorcery. Actus also has a Master's Degree that he got exclusively so he could put it in his author bio. You can find his works on RoyalRoad & Patreon as well as on Amazon eBooks and Audible.

Goodreads | Amazon 

 

 

Giveaway Details:

2 winners will receive finished copies of MY BEST FRIEND IS AN ELDRITCH HORROR (Light Novel), US Only.

Ends January 11th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

12/9/2024	Ogitchida Kwe’s Book Blog	Excerpt/IG Post
12/10/2024	Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Excerpt/IG Post
12/11/2024	The Momma Spot	Excerpt
12/12/2024	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt/IG Post
12/13/2024	Daily Waffle	Excerpt

Week Two: 

12/16/2024	Fire and Ice Reads	Excerpt/IG Post
12/17/2024	Lady Hawkeye	Excerpt/IG Post
12/18/2024	Edith's Little Free Library	IG Post/TikTok Post
12/19/2024	Rajiv's reviews	Review/IG Post
12/20/2024	@sparks_books	Review/IG Post

Week Three: 

12/22/2024	@enthuse_reader	IG Review/TikTok Post
12/23/2024	@callistoscalling	IG Post
12/24/2024	@fiction._.fuss	Review/IG Post
12/25/2024	@evergirl200	IG Review/TikTok Post
12/26/2024	rolo_the_book_lover-	IG Review/TikTok Post
12/27/2024	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/ TikTok Post

Week Four:

12/30/2024	jlreadstoperpetuity	IG Review/TikTok Post
1/2/2025	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post
1/3/2025	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
1/4/2025	Lifestyle of Me	Review
1/5/2025	Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer	Review/IG Post

Review: A Discovery of Witched by Deborah Harkness

 When I got this from the library, I did not realize how massive this was and I am a slow reader with chunky books. I finished this on New Years Eve and it is a 4 star. It took me a while to get into it because it was slow and I hated all the science terms and I skimmed the poetry passages in the beginning. 

I did not know anything going into this because it had been on my TBR for years. We follow a woman named Diana Bishop who is a descendant of Bridget Bishop, the first woman who was executed in the Salem Witch trials. Diana is a witch who wants to ignore her powers and just live her life as a historian. She is researching for a keynote address that she is scheduled to do and one of the books she needs is to high up. She uses her magic briefly to bring down the book and attracts the attention of another professor. One Mathhew Clairmont who is an old ass vampire. 

The world is filled with vampires, witches and daemons. They all live side by side but they do not mix. Diana unknowingly attracts attention to herself when she request a manuscript that has been considered lost and bewitched. She breaks the spell and reads some of the manuscript and sends it back, which sends every creature into a tizzy and puts a target on her back.

Matthew becomes a protector of sorts and they start to fall in love. Diana gets threatened with a picture of her murdered parents and Mathhew wisks her away to his home in France where things become even better and worse.

Knowing what the main actors look like made me able to picture these character more clearly and enjoy this a lot more. I am a little iffy about the end with the time travel. I cant wait to watch the first season of the show.

Review: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

 Continued my reading of the Lord of the Rings. I read this last month when my daughter bugged me to buddy read with her. I obviously finished it, she has not yet. I listened to it on audiobook with it being narrated by Andy Serkis. I listened to it on 2.25 speed and it made it much more enjoyable while reading along with it. It made all of the singing bearable.

Everyone knows what lord of the rings is about. A hobbit named Frodo goes on a journey with some friends and he has to watch his back at every turn. He is the nephew to Bilbo who was the main hobbit in the prequel the Hobbit and there are alot of references to that book in this one, so start with that book if you have not read this series.

There were some time where I could not put it down and then at the end, I started to get bored, especially the coucil chapter. It seemed like one big back and forth ping pong match where everything that was said was worded differently. I also kept expecting Bilbo to demand the ring back from Frodo.

Picturing the actors faces while reading also helped make the reading experience go by faster. I will be watching the movie as soon as my kid finishes reading and then I will be picking up the second book either this month or in February.