Mini-Reviews

I haven’t been writing as many reviews of all of the books I have been reading, and I am okay with that. But I have been thinking that it would be nice to share some thoughts on some of the best ones. So I am going to try and write more mini-reviews. So here are three mini-reviews of the best books I have read in the last few weeks.

One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus

Publication Date: January 7, 2020

People like to think they are open-minded, but if you toss a tired gender stereotype in their path they’ll run with it every time. I don’t understand why the world insists on stuffing kids into boxes we never asked for, and then gets mad when we won’t stay there.”

I remember just loving One of Us is Lying and so was really excited to get my hands on this next book. I saw a lot of reviews from people who thought this one was better than the first one, but I think I have to disagree with them. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed this book, I just thought that the mystery in the first book was better. This book just wasn’t as riveting for me, although, holy crap that ending blew me away. I really liked that some of the secondary characters from the first book were given their own stories here. I really liked Maeve and all that she was struggling with. Also, Knox is such a sweetie, I was really glad that we got to know him better. And they made such an awesome detective team. I had some mixed feelings about Phoebe, some of her choices were not great but she really pulled herself together by the end of the story. I mostly really felt disappointed by the plot. The whole Truth and Dare game just wasn’t as suspenseful as it could have been, and I ended up not caring about the death or any of the fall out from the game. I was able to figure out most of what was going on and who was behind it, pretty early on, although the motive wasn’t quite what I expected and also that twist on the last page certainly made up for all of the other short comings. Overall though, a solid story that I really enjoyed, just not as much as her other books.

“The wonderful thing about reality is that it is highly flexible. One minute, all is doom; the next, everything is abloom with possibility.”

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

Publication Date: January 21, 2020

This is the third and final book in this awesome series. I have loved every single minute of reading this series. My only regret is that I didn’t reread the first two before cracking this one open. I did remember most of the story, and the author did a good job of reminding us without it being an info dump. But there were some subtle things that I know I have forgotten. At sometime in the near future I will read all three in a weekend binge. But back to this book, it was so well done. Both mysteries were wrapped up quite well, and there was a bit of a twist to one of them that I didn’t quite see coming. I also really loved the way Stevie and David’s relationship developed in this book as well. Nick is still the sweet and caring friend and is always there for Stevie. I continue to also love Janelle and Vi. I would love to see the machine that Janelle built, it sounded so cool. Still not sure why Hunter entered the story in book two, but he was around for this story too, and I still liked him. The writing was brilliant as always, and while I was never bored, some might think that the pacing was a little slow. But there is so much going on here that I think that is what makes it seem that way. If you haven’t picked up the Truly Devious trilogy, you really must. It is a great murder mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page.

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lin

Publication Date: July 9, 2019

“I want you to know that some journeys have ends, but not this one. This one will change you. Irrevocably.” “Don’t all journeys change you?” “It isn’t the same.” He leaned forward. “I, too, once journeyed beyond the stars.” “What did you find?” His voice turned lethally soft. “That it’s just the beginning.”

If you do not have this book already on your TBR, you really must add it. Or even better, get your hands on a copy and read it now. This is probably the best book I have read so far this year! It is such a great blend of Eastern mythology and fairy tales with a great quest and forbidden romance, that you will find it so hard to put down. I just love Maia and how much she loves her family and her country. Even when she becomes disenchanted with the Emperor, she still wants to keep her country from going to war. All of the dresses she makes are truly inspired and I would love to see some of them actually made. I also liked seeing the competition between the tailors and how treacherous some of them could be. And then of course there is Edan, he was the perfect guy for her. I loved the slow burn of the romance as well, even though some of it was Edan trying not to fall for her, because of the issues that entailed. There are some very sweet and funny moments between them that I just adored. I’m really sad that there are only two books in this series, but I will be picking up this author if this book is any indication of what she can do.

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Well I do hope you enjoyed my mini-reviews. Have you read any of these books? What did you think?