noellesmagicallibrary's reviews
386 reviews

I went into this one with high hopes and it was rather mediocre. 

I like the closed-door, murder mystery aspect in a Hitchcock themed hotel. That part is awesome. And I also liked overall motive and the twist towards the end — I admit it all did catch me by surprise but it wasn’t a jaw hitting the floor kind of moment. 

I did not like the characters. Not a single one. They were not different enough, I honestly couldn’t tell them apart half the time. 

And now this is just a personal issue but I do not like the male narrator. Before this book I had just finished another audio by the narrator and didn’t like it so I was super disappointed when I saw his name listed again. 

Overall, a fun book in the moment but not memorable. 

Holy crap. This was a fast-paced, action-packed, sci-fi thriller. It reminded me of The Purge, The Walking Dead and Last of Us. And I loved it for that. 

We follow a family of four running for their lives. Seemingly overnight, a portion of the population turned into murderous psychopaths— the electricity is gone, cell service is out, and food is growing scarce. 

The only form of communication is the radio and right now a man is telling everyone a man’s home address and encouraging them to murder him. 


First off I just loved the fast pace, something was always happening and I didn’t want to stop reading. I think I just also enjoy these end of humanity stories, seeing how far we can go to survive. 
The reason behind the murder spree in this story was cool, and it’s not something I’ve seen before (doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in some story somewhere, I just haven’t seen it). 

There were a few times in the dialogue where I rolled my eyes— it felt dated and quite obvious it was written by a man. But thankfully it didn’t detract from my enjoyment. 

Definitely recommend!

The Trunk was published in Korea almost 10 years ago. Just last week, Hanover Square Press published an English translation of this dark, feminist thriller.

This book was so unlike what I normally read and I enjoyed it. I’m thrilled to learn that it was made into a Netflix series that will premiere at the end of the month.

Our main character, Noh Inji, is employed by a company that creates temporary marriage contracts. Essentially, she’s a professional wife and she’s been requested for a remarriage.

The story is more character driven than plot -- each secondary character was distinct (Granny is probably my favorite). I haven’t read much contemporary Korean fiction and I can’t say I even know much about the culture. But I’ve read some reviews from more knowledgeable readers who have commented that there are elements of satire in regards to declining birth rates, sex work, and violence.

“...stop being so nice. Women need to be careful. When you’re friendly, guys will chase you. When you’re kind, they’re gonna wanna mess with you. But then if you get mad, you’re a bitch. That’s the price of being too friendly. “


Big thank you to Colored Pages Book Tours and Hanover Square Press for the gifted copy, and ultimately, for introducing me to this book. I recommend you give it a read before watching the series!
 

This book cover is killer and the synopsis sounded interesting but I couldn’t get into the story. I considered not finishing this book a few times but stuck with it since it’s rather short — and I was really hoping to love it in the end. Honestly, I'm a little confused why I had such an unfavorable reading experience when all I've seen is praise for this book.

I think the main reason I didn’t like it is because I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and I didn’t find the main characters (Andrew and Thomas) lovable. I also didn't like the narrator, that was a big drawback for me.

Monsters coming to life is a great idea. I love how the written stories and their pictures brought these twisted fairy tales to life. And most of the scenes with those monsters were descriptive and interesting. But the rest of the story fell flat.

I did also love the queer representation, especially having an asexual main character. I don’t see that in novels enough.

Maybe, just maybe, this is a case of wrong-book wrong-time and I’d give this author another chance in the future. 

Um I’m not really sure why I disliked this book. I didn’t care for the main character and I wasn’t scared. This book was more about gore than plot. Nothing felt surprising or shocking. 

Tbh, I’m writing this review 20 days after finishing it so I don’t remember exactly what I didn’t like. But I saw multiple people give this 5 stars and I love horror books so I went into it with high expectations. 

The narration was fine, so if you’re thinking about reading it I would suggest the audiobook. 

What a fun reading (listening) experience!! I loved this narrator, the accents were perfect and she really embodied Kosara. 

I haven’t seen many people talking about it and I can’t understand why. It has so many great qualities: there’s humor, magic, adventure, a little bit of romance, backstabbing, and death. 

I will be recommending this book, especially this audio version.

I was invested in this story from the very beginning to the very end. The twists weren’t necessarily shocking but I wasn’t able to guess what was happening either. 
I’m so happy I joined an online book group to read this one otherwise it may not have been on my radar. 

Told through two point of views and  three total timelines, two sisters are involved in a secretive Princeton society. Maya graduated 10 years ago and Naomi is currently finishing her senior year. 

While Maya was in school a classmate was found dead on a skiing trip. The official cause of death was hypothermia but Maya has always suspected it was murder. 

In the present, Naomi is helping her roommate investigate this death as well as some shady behavior of one of their teachers. 


One of my favorite things about this books though is the fact that it takes place in and around Princeton. I don’t live too far from there and am familiar with a bunch of locations mentioned (literally two days before starting this book as I was walking along Nassau drinking Small World Coffee). 

I requested to read an advanced copy of this book based on title and cover alone -- I actually didn't know who Ryan or Regina were, and I had never seen Oddities.
Well, now I can saw I've watched almost every season.

The Witch's Door is part memoir and part interesting facts about interesting objects. I love weird and unusual antiques so I also loved reading Ryan and Regina's stories. I found the personal, autobiographical chapters to be insightful and entertaining.

Plus, there are pictures. I love when these type of books include pictures. Honestly, I could have used even more.


I was given an advanced copy for review, all thoughts are entirely my own. Thank you Chronicle Books and Netgalley for the opportunity 

Fortune's Kiss was an unexpected treasure. Two best friends enter a competition to be granted their wildest dreams.

Meet Mayté. She dreams of being seen and appreciated, she wants to be a famous painter. Her family used to be part of Las Cincos -- one of the most wealthy families in Ciudad Milagro. That is, until her father became a drunk and gambled away their wealth, leaving them in a large amount of debt. Mayté feels unloved and unvalued by everyone except her best friend Lo (Lorena).

Although Lo's financial circumstances are better than Mayté's, she is equally unhappy with her life. Her father is abusive and he only sees her for wealth she can bring to the family through marriage. Lo doesn't want to be married, especially not to the suitors her father has picked out.

When El Beso de la Fortuna returns to the city for the first time in 10 years, the two friends make good on their pact to join the game. If you are one of the lucky few chosen to participate, you have the chance to gamble to win anything you could desire. But, if you lose... you can lose more than just your material possessions.

It seems like maybe this would be an obvious reveal, but I really didn't expect Lo's mother to be the one in charge of the games. I also believed she played the game and perished. So that was a pretty cool reveal to me.

I loved these characters and the magical, mystical, world inside of Fortune's Kiss.
Recommend this book to people who like stories about friendship, family, magic, and accepting the dark side of one's self.

I was given an advanced copy for review, all thoughts are entirely my own. Thank you Union Square & Co and TBR and Beyond Tours for the opportunity

Tangleroot is the name of a plantation in rural Virginia and it's where our main character, Noni, is forced to spend her summer after graduating high school. Her mother, Radiance Castine, is a well known scholar of Black literature. She takes a job at a college in VA which prompts the move for her and Noni.

Noni hates it there. She's a genius at the sewing machine and she was planning on spending her summer in Boston, working on costumes for the theater. Instead, she's working at the local food joint and taking classes at the community college.

Things become more complicated when Noni accepts an offer to make a gown for a socialite, Lana Jean. Radiance and Lana Jean hate each other but Noni doesn't know why. Through out this book Noni researches her family's history and the history of Magnolia VA, which ultimately leads her to the answers she needed.


This narrator brought the story to life with her accents and inflections. Every character felt complete.
In light of recent world events, reading (listening) to this book felt surreal. I was reminded that racism is alive and racist people have always and will continue to hold powerful positions in society. I want to thank Kalela Williams for giving us Noni's story.