kailey_luminouslibro's reviews
3761 reviews

Philippa is embarrassed by her parents, picked on and teased at school, and sad because her best friend just moved away. She wishes she had a fairy godmother who could make her life easier, but when a fairy named Daisy arrives, she is closer to Philippa's age, more like a fairy godsister. Daisy has the power to grant Philippa three wishes, and every wish goes horribly wrong. Daisy doesn't even like humans and just wants to get the job finished. Can these two let go of their bitterness and find some true happiness?

I loved this fun book! It's so cute and adorable. I loved how Philippa and Daisy both have character development in different directions, but their character arcs dovetail together beautifully.

I really liked the descriptions of Philippa's parents. They are wacky and funny all the time because they run a party business, and spend their days dressed up in costumes, doing magic tricks for kids birthday parties. Philippa is so embarrassed by their antics, but gradually she begins to appreciate the love and kindness in her home.

The worldbuilding is excellent, as we learn about the hierarchy of fairies when Daisy has to report to her superiors. I loved all the magic!

Charles and Sophia meet abroad and become engaged, but when Charles meets Sophia again in England, she refuses to acknowledge their engagement until the mystery of her grandfather's murder is cleared up. Charles meets Sophia's family, her aunts and uncles, and her step-grandmother. Each member of the family is suspicious of the step-grandmother because she was fifty years younger than her husband. They all think she must have gotten tired of waiting for him to die so that she could inherit his wealth. But Charles isn't so sure, and Sophia is afraid that it might have been someone else in the family, someone close to her.

This was a really interesting murder mystery because all the characters are so different and vibrant. There are a lot of suspects, but they are all very memorable with lively personalities. Sophia's father is withdrawn and bitter, but her mother is a dramatic actress, always acting out a scene. Sophia's uncle is highly emotional with a quick temper, but her aunt is quiet and deliberate in all her behavior. Sophia's brother and sister are too young to really be involved, but they definitely notice all the weird goings-on about the house.

Charles has to consider what sort of person would be a murderer, and does he really want to marry into a family like that? He tries to help the police find some clues, but no one seems to have any motive for murdering the grandfather.

The plot has several twists, and I loved all the red herrings. As always, Agatha Christie's writing style is perfection. She really keeps you guessing!

I liked Charles, but I didn't really like Sophia that much. Next to everyone else, she is sort of a bland person. Most of her personality is just reacting to other people, trying to rein in the excessive behavior of her relatives. But she is a good judge of character and has a clear head. She describes her relatives to Charles with perfect clarity. For an engaged couple, they don't have much romance in the book. They are too busy tracking down the murderer.

Growing up in the American Colonies, Billy wants to be a botanist just like his father. When Benjamin Franklin sends them on an expedition to the Ohio frontier, Billy is excited to be included with his father in the team of scientists and philosophers. Their mission is to find a lost Welsh colony that may have traveled to the Americas centuries before. With war with the French on the horizon, they will need allies on the frontier.

I loved this adventure! They travel on a really cool aeroship that is actually modeled on a real gismo that was invented around this time. The plot moves very quickly with spies and a stowaway and storms and mad scientists. There is this massive bear that is tracking them through the wilderness. We also get a little taste of the mystical as they tell legends about the Fountain of Youth and the mysterious Welsh colony that disappeared.

The setting is so cool in the American colonies when the British were gearing up for war with the French. We even meet George Washington when he was just a young captain in the army. At the back of the book there is a note from the author that explains that many of the characters, places, and inventions were actually taken from history. There really was a boy named Billy and his father who were both botanists!

The expedition has a Native American guide named Andrew, but Billy's father warns him never to trust any Indians. Billy is confused, and wonders why his father has such a strong prejudice against all the native tribes. As Billy gets to know Andrew, he is more and more ashamed of his father's blatant racism. Billy knows his father is a good man, but he holds a lot of anger and hurt in his heart.

Billy and his father have a lot of incredible character development! I absolutely loved this storyline that dealt with some serious issues in a gracious and caring way. The themes of family connectedness and independence were beautifully explored. We are connected to our families, but we are also separate from them; just as we are connected to everyone in the world, but also separate. We are all different. We are all the same.

I'm amazed at how many deep themes this book explores, but the adventure is fun and light-hearted as well. There is a character who constantly calls for peace, but when war is on the doorstep, they dive into the fight and a bloodlust is unleashed inside them. Then they have to reexamine all their beliefs about peace and they realize how precious it is.
There is a character who is obsessed with their scientific research and they don't care who they put in danger as long as they can keep doing research.
The stowaway puts everyone at risk and then blames themselves over and over, wallowing in guilt for their mistakes. They have to learn to forgive themselves.
We get themes of peace and war, family love, forgiveness, tolerance, and our own mortality.

I enjoyed this book so much! A rollicking adventure!

When four siblings inherit a run-down farm, they aren't sure whether to sell it or try to live there. Max opposes every plan to live in the farmhouse, since it will need extensive repairs, and it's so large that they could never afford to furnish it. But Sally has her heart set on a peaceful country life, and she tries to persuade her brothers that they could make a living growing strawberries in the fields. Although the guys hate their stuffy city office jobs, they can't imagine themselves as rugged farmers. They argue back and forth until finally, a disaster in the family compels them to make use of the farm, and they discover that they love living in the country.

I loved this sweet and wholesome book! I adore Sally and all the brothers, and I loved how they drag their friends into their adventures on the farm. They have some childhood friends, a kindly wise old uncle who lives with them, and a country neighbor who gives them advice and help on the farm. The neighbor is a bit of a mystery at first, but we learn that he has a deep faith in God and a generous spirit.

The romance is a little odd and disjointed, since Sally refuses to be courted at first and makes her suitor wait until things are settled at the farm. In the meantime there are a few other fellows who appear to be interested in her, but she keeps things friendly and does not encourage any special attentions from them. There is a little bit of mystery about who Sally will ultimately choose as her suitor. There are few other flirtations between some side characters, but at the end we never learn if they started any serious relationships or not. I was disappointed not to know how their little romances turned out.

But the biggest focus is not on romance, but on sibling relationships. I love stories about siblings and this one really captured my heart! Sally is the only girl in the family, and she feels the responsibility to take care of her brothers. They are very protective of her, and all the siblings work really hard for each other. However, they have their differences like all siblings, and they don't always meet obstacles or challenges as a unified team. It's takes some humility and compromise to make decisions as a family, and make the farm a success.

I love the wholesome plot and the delightful characters! I love the sweet writing style that kept me reading into the wee hours of the night. This book made me smile and warmed my heart! 

I liked reading about how the Victorian novel rose to prominence and the different literary trends that came and went during the Victorian era. It was interesting to learn more about some of my favorite authors.
However, the book just drags on and on with really dry writing that made it hard to concentrate, and the sentences are so convoluted and long that it was difficult to follow sometimes.

My favorite part of the book was learning about "yellow novels" that became popular in railway stations. You could rent a book from a bookstand in the station, read it on the train, and return the book at your destination. But these cheap books bound in yellow got a reputation for being sensational pot-boiler novels. They were not well-written and not serious literature, but they served a purpose in making literature available at cheap prices so that anyone could read books, not just those who were wealthy enough to buy expensive editions.

The history is really interesting, but I found myself skimming some of the lengthy paragraphs about this and that publishing house and how much money they paid for the publishing rights for some manuscript. I found the business side of things to be boring.

DNF at page 222
Stacia and Veru are twin princesses, neither of whom want to inherit the throne. They long for freedom and they train with the soldiers, hoping to someday get a military command that will allow them to travel the empire while their sister has to take the throne and make a good political marriage.

When their mother is on her deathbed, the twins send for any healer, priest, or doctor who can cure her, and an old wizard claims to have the power to heal. However, he unleashes a curse that transforms the twins into tigers, and now they must travel to the furthest mountains to find magic that will turn them back into humans again.

Nik is the faithful soldier who guides them into the mountains and finds food for the tigers, but he is hiding dark secrets of his own and a terrible past that he can never outrun.

I ended up DNFing this book for several reasons. I guess I was expecting this book to be just like the first series, Tiger's Curse, and it just wasn't, so I felt disappointed. There were so many flashbacks that the plot dragged very slowly. Flashbacks are not a good story structure. I did not care about the main characters, and I really hated Nik.

Most of the flashbacks have to do with Nik's dark past, and we learn about how he was abused as a child, and he killed his entire family. Parents, young siblings - murdered them all in their beds. It was just really really dark and gruesome, and after the sixth flashback of Nik being abused, I just couldn't take it anymore. I don't know if he is going to get a redemption later on in the series, but the dude is a murderer. That is some serious mental illness there, and I don't know how the author could possibly turn that around in a believable way. I hated his story so much.

The only part I liked was the musician hunter character who meets the tiger princesses, befriends them, and joins their quest. I guess he is like the Kelsey character in this new story, so I liked him. And I'm a musician, so I loved the descriptions of music!

The writing is good, but the plot structure suffered from all those flashbacks slowing it down. Usually, I love this author's writing, but I just couldn't stomach all the dark themes.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.

Basil and Dawson are on their way to visit Oxford and see their old college friends. But when they arrive, their friends tell them that the college library is being haunted and strange things have been happening. Basil thinks someone is impersonating a ghost for their own nefarious ends, but Dawson wonders if something else might be going on. Meanwhile, Ratigan has escaped prison and Basil is on high alert, searching for any clue to his whereabouts.

I love this story so much! I have always been a fan of the Great Mouse Detective cartoon, so I was delighted to discover that the movie was based on a book series. The writing is charming, the story is exciting, and the mystery is full of wild clues that only Basil can figure out. I also loved the adorable illustrations that bring the characters to life.

This chapter book would be perfect for young readers ages 6-10 who are starting to read on their own, but it is also enjoyable for older children to read. I loved reading it even as an adult!

Annis Wychwood is a lady in her late twenties who has been labeled a spinster. She is independently wealthy and sets up her own home in Bath with her cousin Miss Farlow as a chaperone. Young Miss Lucilla is barely out of the schoolroom and has not yet been presented to society. When her carriage is upset on the road, Annis comes to the rescue and offers Lucilla a place to stay until her family can arrive to help her. But Lucilla doesn't want her family notified of the accident because she is running away from an undesirable engagement! When Lucilla's guardian, the bad-mannered Mr. Carleton, arrives to protest Annis's interference, the verbal sparring may soon turn to flirtation.

I loved the light-hearted writing style in this book! I also enjoyed the Regency setting that reminded me a little of Jane Austen books. The flirty squabbles between Annis and Mr. Carleton are fun to read, because they both really enjoy being rude and brutally honest and teasing each other, instead of having to be constantly polite as they do with the rest of society.

I was put off by the way the characters just accept that gentlemen can have various mistresses as if that were completely normal and accepted. There are many references to the "light muslin crowd" meaning mistresses or prostitutes. Everyone warns Annis that Mr. Carleton has had several mistresses and is known as a playboy, but she doesn't seem to care.

The plot is hilarious and charming. Lucilla is a handful. She wants her own way in everything, and Annis starts to wonder if she is taking on too much trying to chaperone Lucilla around a big city like Bath.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

A group of people are invited to the theater to welcome the new American Ambassador and his wife. They are able to secure the Royal Box and have refreshments with the principal actors between acts. Lady Laura Whitford and her daughter are escorted by an attaché with the American Embassy and a French count who are both interested in Lady Laura's daughter. The Ambassador from a Middle Eastern country tries to take the American Ambassador aside to talk about oil deals and political unrest in his country. The Ambassador's wife embarrasses herself with her crass manners and drinking. At the end of the night, one of them is dead and everyone is a suspect.

I liked that there are many different layers to the mystery. As the detective interviews each suspect, we learn that almost all of them had connections that they want to keep a secret. More than one lady is hiding a child born out of wedlock. There is a secret engagement that was broken off years ago, secret political deals that fell through, and several affairs that have been hushed up.

I thought the interview process, which took up half the book, was boring though. Just people sitting around talking; no action at all, just lots and lots of flashbacks. And the writing is unnecessarily verbose and long-winded. This book could have been half as long without losing anything.

There is also some profanity from certain characters during their interview. I could see how it was calculated to tell us something about that particular character, but it still annoyed me.

I didn't like most of the characters. They are all sort of mean and selfish. There are only two characters that I really liked, Hilary and Althea, and they are very minor characters with only a few lines. Some of the characters are downright nasty, and I just didn't care about their storylines.

Overall, an interesting mystery, but it was too long.

Pong was born in prison, and he escapes with a tattoo that marks him as a criminal. A kindly monk takes him and covers the mark with bracelets. Each bracelet represents a blessing. Pong hides in plain sight, joining the monks in their prayers and charitable deeds.
Nok, the daughter of the prison warden, is determined to prove herself by tracking down the escaped prisoner and bringing him to justice. However, she begins to realize that justice and the law might not always agree.
The Governor of the city has a magical power that provides light for the whole city, but that light is costly and only the wealthy can afford it. The poor sit in squalor and darkness in the slums of the city, and both Nok and Pong start to wonder what kind of justice allows innocent people to suffer.

I loved this beautiful retelling of Les Mis! The plot does have several elements and characters that mirror Les Mis, but most of the book takes its own direction with many surprise twists. This world has a soft magic system, and although some characters are able to intuitively tap into magical power, magic is very rare.

The best part of this book is the character development for both Pong and Nok. They are on opposite sides of the law at the beginning, but their experiences change them and eventually they recognize the true nature of right and wrong. Pong only cares about having freedom. He thinks if he can just run far enough, he will be able to outrun the darkness. Nok wants to be the perfect daughter. She thinks if she can just be perfect enough, she will never be afraid or feel like she doesn't belong. Through their internal struggles, they learn that the Governor's laws do not divide the world into dark and light, and they have to decide for themselves what is truly right and good.

The writing is fabulous! It really pulls you into the enchantment of this world and the adventures of the characters.