moonlightjuju's reviews
110 reviews

Beautiful, would read again

Island Queen by Vanessa Riley moved me deeply. I found myself crying throughout—it was incredibly beautiful and hard to get through at times because of its emotional weight. As a historian from a biracial family with roots in Barbados, this story hit home and offered a profound portrayal of slavery in the Caribbean.

The book follows Dolly Thomas, and Riley does a remarkable job bringing her story to life. She captures not only Dolly’s resilience in the face of unimaginable hardships and losses, but also the complex intersections of race and gender that defined her experiences. Throughout her life, Dolly faced relentless challenges from men who took advantage of her, both sexually and psychologically.

This book kept me awake at night with its intensity, and I want to note there are graphic depictions of rape, abuse, and child loss, including family separation. Dolly’s journey from slavery to freedom is powerful, and the character development is exceptional. This story needs to be adapted into a film—Vanessa Riley’s writing is outstanding, and I’m grateful to have found this book. I’d read it again someday once I’ve healed from this first experience.

This book was a disappointment compared to Saint’s others, and I am happy that I chose to read it through libby rather than buy it when it first came out.

I think Saint should have focused on one story instead of trying to cover all of Hera’s history. Since I’m already VERY familiar with Greek mythology, reading this felt more like a crash course. She spent pages just describing events, which anyone could gather from watching a documentary or reading a summary. I was expecting some major action scenes, but they never came. Honestly, it felt like a waste of time.

The only thing I’d give her credit for is giving Hera a clear motivation for going after Zeus’s children—it stemmed from her desire to protect her grandchildren. That’s the only reason I gave it two stars. Otherwise, I was left wanting more, and this book didn’t deliver. Saint shouldn’t have written about such a major goddess unless she planned to focus on one or two key stories.

Overall, the plot was weak (if you can even call it a plot), and the character development was poor.

For starters these kids are bad af, however this book does do a great job at depicting how fast kids are in the UK.

As readers we are baited into thinking something more sinister has happened but,

no a death didn’t happen. I thought this maybe a murder mystery but it wasn’t - so you can imagine how disappointed I was.

Below are some spoilers. 
-

Taylor is the classic UK mean girl. She becomes territorial over the men in her life (Leo and Dylan), and lashes out on the girls around her. Because her own mother is just like her (and encourages this bad/dangerous behavior) there’s no one to fix how she is. The fact that she didn’t get caught annoyed me the most

The only good character in this is Pip, she acts her age and is one of the most harmless kids in this story. I read this for her and I loved the innocence she brought into the book. 

Grace is rude, too rude at that, but to give her a fair chance in this review, she is peer pressured into growing up too fast by the group of kids she hangs around. The fact that she covered for the girls that attacked her was insane, but like Pip said, it allows them to continue to do this to others.

Claire is a bad mother, and not a well developed character. I think all of these parents are neglectful in a way, and have a very hands off approach to raising their kids once they are pass the age of 9. She keeps their father away from them which makes sense as to why BUT this isn’t developed enough. There is a lot of things (for all characters) that happens off the pages and we are readers are just supposed to be fine with that. It weakens the characters and the plot. The only smart thing she did was move her family out of that area because all those girls were a danger to her children.

Now that I’m at the end of the book I don’t think Leo is as much as of a threat that Pip makes him to be. I think he is a bit touchy feeling (in the way of someone that hugs almost everyone) but I do not think he’s after any of the girls. That being said, Pip is just really well aware of how fast all those other children are which is why she’s so on edge. 

Dylan seems like a nice kid, he cut of Taylor and I think it’s partly because he knows she is CRAZY. But the closer of him and Grace still being together really wasn’t enough.

Overall, I wish the characters were more developed. The parents allowing their children to get away with putting another child in A COMA is crazy. Adele allowing Taylor to move in after all that is stomach turning. 

Amazing book. Finished in 2 days and just could not put it down!
Believe it or not Josie reminded me a lot of a person my partner knew first year of uni, whom was completely insane and a compulsive liar and it was just crazy seeing the similarities. 
Jojo def shows signs either BPD or just a sociopath, and is a big danger (clearly) to those around her, displaying violent outburst, no remorse, obsession, and no empathy whatsoever. 
Starting with Walter and her relationship, the age gap is INSANE and was a MAJOR red flag. In any shape or form Walter was a groomer, however

once we learn from Pat that Jojo actively went after Walter (knowing not only was he married but also dating her mom) - this showing her as a person (like you’re one of those that ALSO steals people men😭)

She is a perfect example of an unreliable narrator and we don’t begin to see the full picture till after her family begins to speak out.
I legit cried when Nathan died, I was hoping he wouldn’t and was holding out hope that the marriage would be fixed, but again Jojo’s obsession got in the way of that. I was honestly surprised that she didn’t try stealing HIM away from his family. But after hearing her daughter explain how Walter had to sneak to speak to his kids in America it was just adding on to the long list of red flags for Jo the Roxy plot twist was to be expected, she seems to be worse then her parents/grandparents. I think a spin off book on her would be interesttinnng
I loved the writing style and I will absolutely be reading more from this author. Great little murder mystery.

The Corset by Laura Purcell is a fantastic addition to the Victorian Gothic genre, which I love. I picked it up immediately after The Silent Companions, and it did not disappoint. The character of Ruth is built up brilliantly—she believes her sewing has the power to harm others. Her story is tragic, and I found myself rooting for her, hoping she could finally catch a break, though the world seems determined to keep her down. The atmosphere of the novel is perfectly crafted; it immerses you in the dark struggles faced by women in Victorian England.

Although I didn’t find The Corset quite as compelling as The Silent Companions, it was still a great read. My only issue was with the ending, where

>Ruth may indeed possess a supernatural ability, as implied by the fate of Dotty’s father. There are subtle hints, such as Dorothea subtly encouraging Ruth to think of hanging while embroidering her initial on a handkerchief—later, we learn she left it outside her father's library before his death. This twist suggests Ruth had the power all along, and Dorothea may have used it to rid herself of a problem, reinforcing the idea of "murderous" lumps she felt on her own head.

I would have preferred the story left Ruth as an ordinary girl caught in a series of tragic events.

Overall, The Corset is atmospheric and haunting, with a thought-provoking exploration of fate, power, and women’s struggles.

Really good, I started it at 8am finished it at 1:30pm gave off really haunting vibes similar to The Fall Of House Usher great read and loved the twist at the end.
A break down with some spoilers below

For starters, this book grapples with mental illness and with Elise we'll never know if there was something really supernatural going on OR if she was really mentally ill. The stakes were made high from the start from her being pregnant to her brother slowly drifting apart from her.

One thing I would have liked to be expanded on was her own relationship with her parents. Readers later discover that Elsie was the one to push her father into the saw and that he did not in fact fall in to it. Her brother then later states that she smothered her mother with a pillow, however in Elsie‘s  eyes she was protecting him from other parents. We understand that her father used to beat her (only explained in 3 lines), but we never really understand what the issue with her mother was (aka what made her think she had to get rid of her). NOW all of this being said, I believe the brother (Jolyon) was Elsie’s son and here are my reasons.

1. Although we are not given a clear reason as to why Elsie hates her mother, we know her father (Edger) abused her and many comments made seemed like he also sexually abused her while the mother ignored it

2. She called Jolyon “my boy” and has an undying love for him and if he is father by her father (making Edger the father/grandfather) it makes sense why Elsie wanted to get rid of both toxic parents

3. Elsie cringes when finding out the staff named her stillborn son Edger

If this is the case I wish the author made it more clear after Jo’s death.

Now with the character of Hetta, I don’t think she was really evil or BORN of evil. Honestly I think her turning point was when her mother smacked her and when her father banned her from the family entertaining the royals. I think she did have powers but out of pettiness of all kids she acted out of it in a VERY sinister way. If she was born evil I think there would have been more signs to that. She felt betrayed by both her parents AND I also believe the Companions played a role into making her evil. Readers find out that she somehow talks to them and the person that sold them to Anne only did so when they found out the Queen was staying with them. 

The Companions were the downfall of the family and definitely latched on to Hetta DUE TO her having power and being so young. The man that sold them had to be a demon or something cause he just vanished (and his shop) out of nowhere. After Anne kills, the now possessed, Hetta I believe it locked the “Evil” Hetta in bounding her with The Companions 

Anyway 

Sarah seemed to be a goner ever since her skin stopped healing. If all of this was supernatural, I believe Hetta took over her once she (Sarah) ran to get help. It was clear the grip she had in Sarah when Sarah 1 didn’t want to burn Hetta’s board 2 stole the necklace out of nowhere. Sarah somehow was the best fit vessel for Hetta, and maybe it was due to both bloodline AND her strong interested in wanting to know more about her family.


Overall great book.



Ps The death of the priest seemed random af and was just another way to raise the stakes WHICH WAS NOT NEEDED.