#fourstarreview

Daughter Of The Moon Goddess has to be one of the most beautiful books on my shelves. The cover art is stunning but would the story be just as gorgeous? The answer is yes, I was swept away by this magical, fantastical tale based upon the legend of the Chinese moon goddess in which the story of a young girl, Xingyin whose struggles to free her mother leads to a battle with the most powerful immortal in the realm. ⁣ ⁣ I buddy read this with bestie Janel from @keeperofpages as we were both keen to see whether we should preorder the second book in this incredible new duology. Although it took a while for me to feel settled with the story and world, that is to be expected with the creation of any new epic fantasy. ⁣ ⁣ From the very beginning I appreciated the grit, determination and bravery of our female lead, Xingyin as she confronts a number of extraordinary and deadly creatures but remains hellbent on her mission - freeing her mother, no matter the personal cost to herself. ⁣ ⁣ Perhaps predictably so, there is a semi love triangle/romance element to this novel and I was concerned that it would overshadow the person that Xingyin ends up becoming through her hazardous quest. However, I was delighted to discover that this part of the story is very much an aside. Her romantic attachments do not define her as a character (or a woman!) and she doesn’t let it affect the endpoint that she desires. There are a lot of difficult decisions to be made and I was also pleased to have a few surprises or “spanners in the work,” that I wasn’t expecting. ⁣ ⁣ I really enjoyed this fresh new voice in fantasy and look forward to the next book in the series! ⁣ ⁣ Four solid stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 #bookstagram #bookreview #bookrecommendations #fourstarreview #fourstarread #daughterofthemoongoddess #suelynntan #fantasyduologies #recommendedfantasy #chinesefolklore #buddyreadswithjanel #scottishbookstagrammer #prettiestbookcover #waterstonesexclusive https://www.instagram.com/p/CgfF5fHL6nW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Black River is the third book in Will Dean’s excellent Tuva Moodyson series that I’m thoroughly enjoying. It can be read on its own but I would heartily recommend beginning with Dark Pines to get a real flavour and understanding of the characters and the history between them all. There are also certain moments referred to in Black River where it definitely benefits having read the previous books in the series. ⁣ ⁣ Tuva Moodyson is a journalist, a member of the deaf community and, in Black River, an escapee of Gavrik, a small town in Sweden that she grew up in. However, she returns in this novel to investigate the disappearance of her best friend, Tammy. In such a small community, everyone knows everyone else but somehow, nobody seems to know what has happened to Tammy. ⁣ ⁣ Worse still, when another woman goes missing, it seems to reveal some disappointing prejudice as although Tammy grew up in Sweden, her parents are Asian so she was classed as a “foreigner.” As a result, Tuva feels that the second woman’s disappearance is given more prominence. Tuva is desperate to find out what has happened to the women and why. However she isn’t prepared for the danger she puts herself in as she searches for answers. ⁣ ⁣ I love Tuva as a character. Not only is she written beautifully but the author gives her such resilience, steely determination and realistic flaws which instantly makes you warm to her as a reader. The setting of a small town in Sweden is atmospheric and even eerie in places as the seclusion of some areas makes for some incredibly nail-biting moments. ⁣ ⁣ As with all good thrillers, this story has some fantastic twists and turns, one of which I definitely didn’t see coming. It does make me wonder though how much more can happen in this town which seems to have had more drama and terrible events than your typical small community! I’m looking forward to finding out with the next book in the series. ⁣ ⁣ Four stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #fourstarread #fourstarreview #blackriver #willdean #thrillernovels #tuvamoodyson #bookssetinsweden #bookswithrepresentation #bookworm https://www.instagram.com/p/CW0EivSr5NP/?utm_medium=tumblr

I read Excellent Women in this gorgeous Virago Modern Classics Designer Collection with a group of lovely bookstagrammers tagged in this post. It’s the first time I’ve read anything by Barbara Pym and now I’ve finished, I clearly need to remedy that and read everything she’s written!⁣ ⁣ The story follows Mildred Lathbury, a clergy man’s daughter living in post-war 1950’s Britain and one of those so-called “excellent women,” who isn’t married yet but are intelligent, pleasant to be around and sadly, repressed as men take them for granted. We see the world through Mildred’s eyes as she becomes embroiled in the relationship of her new neighbours, anthropologist Helena and her charismatic husband Rocky. ⁣ ⁣ Somewhere around the periphery is a good friend and local vicar, Julian Malory who makes a questionable life choice which causes Mildred to re-assess her own thoughts and desires. ⁣ ⁣ This is a gentle and calm novel that was such a pleasure to read. The characters are beautifully written and were so interesting that I could picture them all individually. Barbara Pym has a real talent and an eye for subtle detail, that is - she says so much with few words but the entire atmosphere of a scene or personality of an individual is obvious to the reader. ⁣ ⁣ I really felt for Mildred’s predicament, admired her tenacity, determination and morals and championed the way in which she went about her life and interacted with others. This was such a comforting and clever story that I can’t wait to read much more from Barbara Pym.⁣ ⁣ Thank you to all the amazing bookstagrammers I read this with and to the lovely @lovedreadingthis for inviting me 😊⁣ ⁣ Four stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ⁣ #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #buddyreads #fourstarreview #fourstarread #excellentwomen #barbarapym #vmcdesignercollection #beautifulbooks #booksandflowers ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ https://www.instagram.com/p/CWVFastLUcV/?utm_medium=tumblr

I have become pretty obsessed with Greek myth re-telling this year. A little while ago I finally read The Silence Of The Girls and it blew me away, to the extent of it being one of my favourite books of 2021. As you can imagine, I was excited for The Women of Troy, the follow up to come out and I had the pleasure of reading it with the gorgeous @keeperofpages ⁣ Once again, Pat Barker is an absolute master of setting the scene where we are taken after Troy has fallen. Briseis is one of the main characters we follow, like Silence Of The Girls, but she is pregnant with the late Achilles unborn child. The novel follows a number of different women including Cassandra who realises her prophecies are only given weight if given by a man, Hecuba who is almost paralysed with grief and stubborn Amina who is determined to avenge the murder of her king. ⁣ ⁣ Like the first novel in this series, I loved how each female character was given their own voice and had such a memorable, individual story to tell. Of course, the men are the ones with all the power and control but it was fascinating to realise how the actions or words of the women of Troy led to changes in either the men’s behaviour or their decisions, shaping the course of history from then on. ⁣ ⁣ I didn’t fall in love with The Women Of Troy as hard as I did with The Silence Of The Girls and it’s difficult to say why. It still has everything that made the first novel such a staggeringly good read and I enjoyed every moment I spent with these characters. Pat Barker uses the stories from mythology and weaves her own magic, creating memorable moments and characters that will always stay with me. I’ve now made it my mission to read everything she has ever written. Four strong stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #fourstarread #fourstarreview #thewomenoftroy #patbarker #favouriteauthors #greekmythology #greekmythologyretelling #beautifulbooks #booksandflowers #bookseriesthatinspire https://www.instagram.com/p/CWC7qcoga9Z/?utm_medium=tumblr

Miracle Creek was one of those books that tempted me from the very moment I read the synopsis. This novel follows a group of people in a small town in Virginia who are all part of a new treatment in a hyperbaric chamber which claims to treat conditions like autism and infertility. ⁣ ⁣ Written from several points of view, the story follows a horrific explosion in the chamber that kills some and maims others for life, both psychologically and physically. The question is, who set the fire? Is it part of an insurance scam by the owners? A protester warning of the dangers of the new technology? Moment by moment, we start to unravel the mystery of what happened that evening and it turns out that more than one individual has skeletons in their closet. ⁣ ⁣ With that intriguing storyline I couldn’t fail to want to read this book very badly! Lucky for me, my bestie @keeperofpages wanted to read it too so we had a lovely time buddy reading and discussing it. The novel was clever in the way it dissected the plot and as I’m a fan of multiple POV’s, I was delighted that Angie Kim used this method to tell the story. ⁣ ⁣ It was quite obvious to both myself and Janel that Kim has had experience in the courtroom and certainly she tells us all about that in the author’s note at the end of my edition. Because of this, there were times when the narrative had less emotion to it than I was expecting. Saying that though, this was primarily evident in the courtroom scenes. In that kind of environment, it is obvious that there had to be an element of detachment. This certainly improved as the novel developed and I’d be very interested to read whatever this author writes next!⁣ ⁣ Four solid stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ⁣ ⁣ #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #fourstarreview #fourstarreads #angiekim #miraclecreek #workingonthattbrpile #buddyreads #buddyreadswithjanel #booksthatmakeyouthink https://www.instagram.com/p/CVJMDEHAfBh/?utm_medium=tumblr

The Chalk Man wasn’t my first C.J. Tudor but after enjoying The Burning Girls and The Taking Of Annie Thorne, I decided to go back and check out her debut. I always feel excited when I have a back catalogue to explore. For anyone that knows me well, Stephen King has blurbed this book so you’d think I’d have read it a lot sooner! Now that I’ve read it I can see why but more on that later.⁣ ⁣ This book uses one of my favourite things in novel writing, the dual timeline. We see the life of our main character Eddie in the present time (2016) and then we are taken back to 1986 to explore his childhood, more specifically, a game he used to play with his friends. This involved using different colours of chalk to draw little chalk men which would send a particular message to the group. ⁣ ⁣ Eddie is reminiscing about the time in his childhood when one of these little chalk men actually led the friends to a dismembered body. As an adult, Eddie still does not have all the answers about what happened on that horrific day and the plot thickens when he and his friends receive a drawing of a chalk man in the mail. To stay safe, Eddie must find out what exactly happened all those years ago. ⁣ ⁣ Now you might have to forgive me for saying this and I am saying this as someone who enjoyed The Chalk Man but I can totally see why it was blurbed by King. It’s eerily reminiscent of the infamous It or the novella The Body where a group of youngsters end up in heaps of trouble. ⁣ ⁣ Personally, I thought this was a great thriller and an easy, page-turning read. It helped me escape when I needed to get away from real life and I was fully entertained until the end. I will certainly be picking up more of Tudor’s work. ⁣ ⁣ Four solid stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ⁣ #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #fourstarreview #fourstarreads #thechalkman #cjtudor #thriller #thrillerbooks #bookssetintheeighties #booksonmykindle #readingthebacklist https://www.instagram.com/p/CVBMXi_gP7w/?utm_medium=tumblr

The Rain Heron is a gorgeous and thought provoking novel and was a great choice for a buddy read with my bestie @tarheelreader Immediately I was drawn into the beautiful writing and poignant message which explores a country ravaged by climate change. The country isn’t named but that really doesn’t matter - with climate change it could almost be any country on the planet. ⁣ ⁣ In the first half of the novel, we meet Ren, a survivalist who lives in the mountains and gets everything she needs from the land. Her peace is irrevocably destroyed when a soldier comes in search of the mythical Rain Heron, a creature that is said to have the ability to change the weather. ⁣ ⁣ We hear from another young woman who makes a living from squid ink without harming the squid. That is, her aunt has found a way to encourage the squid to release their ink peaceably. As the story continues, we also learn more about the soldier who visits Ren which includes more detail about her background. This all comes together at the end to provide much food for thought. ⁣ ⁣ This was very much a novel of two halves for me. I adored the first half and the different threads of the story and I would have been content to explore some of these in a bit more depth. However in the second half it very much focuses on one main thread and there was an instance of a very quick falling in love moment which I’m not sure if I fully believed or thought was necessary.⁣ ⁣ However, this is a stunningly written story with so much to admire. I’ve read a few books this year that focus on the environment and it’s fast becoming one of my favourite genres to explore. I’ll definitely be checking out the author’s first book, Flames.⁣ ⁣ Four solid stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #fourstarreview #fourstarread #robbiearnott #therainheron #australianauthors #beautifulbooks #booksaboutclimatechange #environmentallyconscious #environmentalbooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CU8F6zQgneZ/?utm_medium=tumblr

I can’t remember which of my bookstagram buddies convinced me to give A Crooked Tree a try now but whoever it was, I thank you! I read this as a buddy read with the gorgeous @keeperofpages and it ended up being a highly enjoyable and thought-provoking read. ⁣ ⁣ Essentially this is a coming of age story set amidst an event which changes a family forever. It is told through the eyes of 14 year old Libby and when we first meet her, she is in the car with some of her siblings and her irate widowed mother, Faye who becomes frustrated at the arguing between Thomas, 16 and Ellen, 12. ⁣ ⁣ In a split second, she makes the decision to stop the car, let Ellen out and orders her to make her own way home, 5 miles away. It is this decision and the repercussions of the choice that ignites a chain reaction of reverberations for the whole family. ⁣ ⁣ This is a fantastic exploration of adolescence, family dynamics and the difficulties experiences by families every day, particularly when they are forced into unexpected situations. I loved that each sibling was so distinct with their own unique and memorable personality. Libby was a strong lead as the main voice in the narrative but I also really enjoyed Ellen and the youngest girl, 7 year old Beatrice. ⁣ ⁣ This novel is also enjoyable because it feels so true to life. Parents aren’t perfect and they do make bad decisions from time to time and must live with those decisions. That’s exactly what we see in A Crooked Tree and it was told so authentically which I really appreciated. I’ll definitely be watching out for more books by Una Mannion. ⁣ ⁣ Four solid stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ⁣ ⁣ #bookstagram #bookrecommendations #bookreview #fourstarreview #fourstarread #acrookedtree #unamannion #readingonmykindle #buddyreads #buddyreadswithjanel #booksthatmakeyouthink https://www.instagram.com/p/CUdEF2XAlF2/?utm_medium=tumblr