"Caraval"

“Caraval”

Written by Stephanie Garber

Review written by Diana Iozzia

After choosing to read one of the most highly anticipated young adult fantasy books, I was very eager but also very nervous. As far as romance and magic competitions in fiction go, I was not planning to find a new favorite, after the major letdown of “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. However, “Caraval” mystified me, enchanted me, and threw me onto a crazy adventure that was a lot of fun, very exciting, and so utterly confusing. Every single turn in the story led us so far from what we were expecting. Trust cannot exist in this magical world. Let’s begin.

It was instantly interesting to see the world-building. We learn about different islands, empires, past ruling, the ways the years, seasons, and dates are told, and more. I find it fascinating to learn of the government organization, currency, and more.

Our main character and protagonist, Scarlett, has dreamed, since childhood, to see and join the Caraval competition. She has written letters to the master of the ceremonies, the creator, the villain, Legend. This year, he has finally allowed her and her fiancé to come. Instead, Scarlett subverts our first expectation and takes her sister, (Dona)Tella, with the assistance of a cute, smarmy sailor. After arriving and being separated from Tella, Julian and Scarlett begin competing, realizing that Tella is the key to the puzzles and clues and is sought after by all of the competitors.

To continue, the actual competition was so entertaining to watch! We felt like spectators ourselves, as Scarlett and Julian become entangled in this crazy adventure. They must encounter so many interesting types of magic, including enchanted dresses, clarity drinking cider, moving bridges, fallen stars, wish seeds, future-seeing eyeglasses, exchanging blood for two days of death, and more.

We are introduced to a large cast of characters in this spectacular fever dream. We meet: Tella and Scarlett’s awful father, Dante, Valentina, Jovan, Aiko, and a few other characters I won’t spoil.

I think one of the most interesting aspects of our villain, Legend, is the build-up to him. We are learning all of these horrible decisions and tricks and magic he plays, and we’re just waiting desperately to catch a glimpse of him.

I think this book shocked me, surprised me, and enchanted me. There are countless twists and turns, so many that I felt I had no idea where it was going. I also felt that the story ended very interestingly, causing me to run to the library to borrow “Legendary”. Let the games begin.

I recommend this for teens, young adults, and adults. This book incorporates many teen characters, but I felt they were written splendidly. Often, I find in fantasy novels, I do not enjoy the teen characters. However, they are realistic, interesting, manipulative, and perfectly crafted. I absolutely loved this book, and I know this will be a new favorite series. In addition, if you’re looking for a book that has really fantastic female characters who are strong and stand up for what they believe in, Scarlett and Tella are your girls. Jovan’s pretty cool too. I hope you give this book a chance. I really don’t know why it took me this long. Oh, also, I read it all in one night! I simply could not stop turning the pages.

"The Whisper Man"

“The Whisper Man”

Written by Alex North

Review written by Diana Iozzia

“The Whisper Man” is a frightening and memorable thriller, about a man who will do anything for his son. Our main protagonist, Tom Kennedy, moves into a new home with his seven-year-old son, Jake, after Tom’s wife dies suddenly. A young boy named Neil has been murdered, and the police believe that the killer may be an accomplice of “The Whisper Man”, a serial killed named Frank Carter. Frank would lure boys out of their homes and kill them. This premise gave me pause, but also it intrigued me. I hadn’t read a book like this in a little while. Also, the publicity buzz drew me in, as well as the super creepy card I received in my PR envelope. Little British girls singing about creepy killers? Oof. Even so, I read this book in one whole night. I could not and would not stop reading, even though it was terribly past my bedtime.

Now, we read through different perspectives, as we increasingly fear for the lives of those involved. In addition to Tom, we read a third person omniscient narrator, over Pete, the lead detective and someone all too close to Tom, Jake, and the new copycat killer. Pete visits the local jail, to consult with the imprisoned Frank, to see if he has any clues about the new killer and to see if he can determine if Frank has been hiding an accomplice all this time.

Little Jake is an interesting character. He’s very smart, almost to the point of precociousness. He loves to draw, often drawing images that Tom does not understand. I think Jake is represented so well. Often, I do not find children to be accurately portrayed. Jake’s mannerisms, dialogue, and personality traits felt very real, especially his Packet of Special Things. Jake also speaks to a little girl, his imaginary friend. We learn more about the family, the detectives, and the killer. The game shifts, when the new killer begins to whisper at Jake’s window and try to get inside at the front door.

At first, I felt this story to be a bit hokey. I felt Tom to be a bit over-the-top in his actions. Every move he made felt far too exaggerated to be realistic. However, I soon realized why he was so concerned with being a fantastic father to his son. To continue, I was very skeptical of the “detective visits imprisoned killer for advice” trope. As most literature and film lovers do, I will always think of “The Silence of the Lambs” by Thomas Harris. I feel that many films can use this trope well, like “Shutter Island”, but often, the trope falls flat. Fortunately, I was impressed by the execution of these scenes. In addition, two other tropes that I was happy with were the “child of main character in a creepy town is in danger” and the depressed, alcoholic detective.

 I think that my favorite element of this story is the father and son dynamic. We see many of these dynamics: three to be exact. These relationships are not simple; they are complex and important. I think having such a strong backbone to this story allowed the plot to truly develop in a full and rounded out way. Every motivation made sense. Every motivation was supported by these dynamics. I’ve always felt that a story, that needs to evoke certain emotions, has to have that true foundation for us to draw upon. We need to build both empathy and hatred, but we need to first care about those in danger.

There are some elements that I truly loved that I just can’t reveal enough information about, because they would reveal far too much about the story. This is one of those books that have many twists and red herrings, but I felt they were implemented flawlessly. I loved trying to determine the motivations of the killer and how they made sense for the story. Awesome. The actual reveal of the killer was a bit strange to me, but I understood the choice after I spent a lot of time thinking all about it. Lastly, I was not a big fan of the development that occurred for the imaginary friend character. That’s just a preference. Oh, and I won’t say anything more about Mister Night, but “wow”.

In conclusion, this is absolutely a new favorite thriller for me. It impressed me in so many more ways than I had expected. This book brought a lot of heart, happiness, sadness, fear, and love into a book that I didn’t anticipate. The book had wonderful narrative techniques, including realistic dialogue, vivid imagery, and incredible suspense. There were many moments when I felt terrified, in my well-lit room, at 6 p.m., with a large Lab / Pitbull mix laying next to my feet. I will be recommending this amazing book for the rest of my life. Please consider reading it. I realistically do not think that there is anything you could be disappointed by. I wasn’t.

I received an advance reader's edition from the publisher. Thank you to Celadon Books.

"The Sun and Her Flowers"

“The Sun and Her Flowers”

Written by Rupi Kaur

Review written by Diana Iozzia

“The Sun and Her Flowers” is the sophomore poetry collection written by ultra-famous, bestselling modern poet, Rupi Kaur. A few days prior to reading her second book, I read her first, enjoying it. It was not my favorite poetry that I had ever read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed the blend of heartbreak and love in that collection. There were many types of love and how it could go wrong. I felt that she had a very acute but accurate view of the world. With her second collection, I enjoyed it less.

I believe that I enjoyed “The Sun and Her Flowers” less, because the poetry was about more than the first. Her second involved themes of women empowerment and politics, which unfortunately is not a type of poetry that I enjoy reading about. I don’t mind reading serious poetry. Most of her poetry in “Milk and Honey” was very serious. However, I just don’t like reading poetry about much more depressing topics. I felt the first had a good sampling of both, but this book felt more saddening. This led to my disinterest and disappointment with this collection. I do understand that some readers may enjoy the book more because of the newer focuses, and I understand that poetry is very subjective.

I read this in an e-book form, so the pages were very jumbled and it was hard to determine which poem was on each page. Many of Kaur’s poems do not have titles, so I can’t list the untitled ones that I enjoyed, because I’m not sure if the page number is correct. In light of that, I am sharing with you the titled poems that I enjoyed. Kaur’s poetry collections are separated into sections. The sections in this collection are: “Wilting”, “Falling”, “Rooting”, “Rising”, “Blooming”. The poems with an asterisk next to it are favorites.

“The Construction Site of Our Future” *

“The Mornings Without You” *

“Hunger”

“Not Your Hobby”

“The Human Condition”

“Ghosts”

“I Don’t Need More Friends”

“Depression is a Shadow Living Inside Me”

“The Underrated Heartache” *

“Green and Blue” *

“Rest in Peace” *

“Boat” *

“What If”

“The New World Had Drained Him” *

“Forward” *

“A Fresh Love is a Gift” *

“Celebration” *

“If Only We Met When I Was That Willing”

“Checklist”

“The Sun and Her Flowers”

“Fingers”

“Sex”

“Commitment” *

“The Chase” * (My favorite from the whole book!)

“Funeral”

“Medicine”

In conclusion, I still enjoyed many poems from this collection. I absolutely recommend reading both her books. I would happily read future collections written by Rupi Kaur.

"The Crash"

“The Crash”
Written by Lisa Drakeford
Review written by Diana Iozzia


In reading “The Crash”, I found myself wondering a few questions. Why do we decide a book premise is interesting to us? Is a premise interesting if it contains familiar tropes or plot devices that are appealing?  On a similar note, do we also choose books that remind us of others, in hoping that we would feel the same way when reading it? Either way, I’m not entirely sure why I decided to read “The Crash”. As I began reading through it, I found myself like it less and less. Is this a fault of the author or myself? Let’s explore.

The premise of “The Crash” starts when a car with three people destroys the living room of a small family in England, leaving some characters injured and all characters forever changed by this event. The players in this story are:
• Sophie, a simple, ‘average’ teen.
• Tye, Sophie’s best friend, on the verge of coming out as gay.
• Jordan, Tye’s hidden boyfriend.
• Deano, an abusive delinquent.
• Gemma, a naïve girlfriend of Deano
• Harry, protective brother of Gemma.
• Issy, a young neighbor who is abused along with her mother by her evil stepfather.

When Sophie’s living room is crashed into by Deano, Gemma, and Harry, this event sets off a domino effect. Tye becomes so injured he’s in a coma. Harry breaks his ankle and becomes close with Sophie. Issy involves herself, pointlessly. Deano is on the run.

We experience the story through multiple third-person perspectives. Issy and Gemma’s storylines mirror each other. Gemma’s perspective is told two years prior, when she and Deano met. Under his influence, she was involved in a few serious crimes. Under Issy’s stepfather’s abuse, Issy’s young life is affected deeply. We experience the story mainly through Sophie’s eyes as she puts the pieces together of those around her and completes the story to figure out what really happened.

The results of this book are disappointing. This was a very easy to read book without many complex characters or confusing plot lines. This book felt reminiscent of “Big Little Lies”, “The Slap”, “Dirty Little Secrets”, “Never Have I Ever”, and a few other neighborhood-based, dramatic thrillers. I felt the story revealed important details about each character, but I never felt the reveals propelled the plot in any way. There wasn’t a conflict to me, rather than just a mystery that (I guess) needed to be unfolded.

In conclusion, there’s no clear resolution for most of the characters and none of them do seem truly happy. I enjoyed the writing style and dialogue of this story, which lead me to believe I would enjoy more from this author. Hopefully, the characters would be more fleshed out, they would develop, and the plot would be more interesting next time. I do recommend this book to those who enjoyed the books I mentioned earlier. The small-town vibe, the close neighbors, and the character study of a story definitely are reminiscent of those books. I hope to read more by Lisa Drakeford in the future.

"The Hate U Give"

“The Hate U Give”

Written by Angie Thomas

Review written by Diana Iozzia

 

“The Hate U Give” is an intense, character and action-driven young adult novel, encompassing many themes such as racism, ageism, sexism, and especially police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. Our main character, Starr Carter, speaks in first person present tense, bringing an “in the moment” intensity to the story line, as if we are in the room where it happens. She is a teenage girl who chooses to go to the wrong party on the wrong night. While speaking with a childhood friend, Khalil in his car after the party, a policeman pulls them over. There is a strange friction in the air as Officer 115, or Brian, asks for the license, registration, and uncomfortably talks to Khalil. Officer 115, as Starr calls him, kills Khalil by shooting him thrice, without any clear threat or instigation. This is clearly an act of racism and police brutality, which causes a firestorm of events in the small community of Garden Heights.

I think this book was interesting to me, as a white girl from the suburbs. I learned a lot about a different culture then mine in an interesting and understandable way. It was interesting to see how the characters acted differently in front of certain groups of people. For example, Starr refers to herself as Williamson Starr when she is at the wealthy boarding school with her white friends. To continue, it was hard to read the mixed messages, the blurred lines, and the grey area that follows during riots and violence for the Black Lives Matter movement. I think this book opens a great dialogue for those who read to see how they would act and where their morals lie.

Additionally, this was a very well-written book. For the subject material, I had wished the book focused a bit more on this rather than Starr’s high school ‘drama’. I understand that this book is aimed at a teen audience. As it’s well written for a teen audience, I would have preferred it to be equally as enjoyable for older generations. This felt very modern and that it will be dated in ten years with the Beyonce and Taylor Swift references. I guess for the teen drama and romance, I enjoyed the more serious topics that are the foundation for the fights and the disagreements. First and foremost, my favorite part of this story is the family relationships.

Lastly, I think this book would have been more interesting if it focused on more than Starr, family, friends, and riots. Although my favorite character is Starr’s uncle Carlos, I felt the book centered too much on Starr’s family. One of the main background aspects is the gangland environment of the community. Seven, Starr’s brother, is scouted to join the gang, and Khalil was also involved in the gang. It would have been interesting to have more of an influence by the antagonist, King, the crime lord in the community. He felt like an afterthought, rather than one of the main forms of conflict in the book. His followers appear every now and then to threaten. We hear how terrible a father he is to Seven, Kenya, and Lyric. I plan to see the movie, and I am curious to see how the film portrays the balance of all these aspects.

I fully recommend this book. I felt that if you’d like to know more about the Black Lives Matter movement, this isn’t the best book for it. Perhaps a nonfictional account would be more informative. However, this book makes learning about the movement accessible and age appropriate for young teens, without shying away from uncomfortable actions and decisions.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free as a giveaway prize to promote the film’s release. I did not receive this book in exchange for writing the review.

"The New Neighbors"

“The New Neighbors”

Written by Simon Lelic

Review written by Diana Iozzia

I received a free advanced reader’s edition for reviewing purposes. Thank you to Berkley Publicity.

“The New Neighbors” was a novel that was completely different from what I expected it to be. It’s branded as an exhilarating thriller that hinges upon a body found on a back porch, of our two unreliable narrators Jack and Sydney. As we begin their perspectives, we notice a little arguing back and forth, as if they know what the other is saying in this perspective. This does not particularly break the fourth wall, but it leads to a bit of intriguing narration.

“The New Neighbors” is not a thriller to me, in the typical sense of the genre. This is first and foremost a love story, or well, falling out of love story. Jack and Sydney are complicated people in complicated situations. They are busy with their own lives, while they are falling apart. As they move into a weird new house, we learn more about Sydney’s abusive childhood and Jack’s difficult job dilemma. I really enjoyed this story for the parts that weren’t involved in the murder on the back porch. We only really find out the ‘thriller’ aspect during the last 75 percent of the book. Naturally, we read through their unreliable narration, but it’s different to me than regular unreliable narration. Often, we read denial, lies, and it’s clearly overt who is unreliable. Until we reach the climax and resolution, I personally did not distrust either Jack or Sydney.

I think this was a very complex thriller with much more aspects and fragility than I expected. I think this is a hard book to brand, because yes, there is abuse, rape mentions, drug addiction, and murder, but the most interesting aspect is the relationship failure. I beg you to read this; this is absolutely a new favorite.

"The Girls at 17 Swann Street"

“The Girls at 17 Swann Street”

Written by Yara Zgheib

Review written by Diana Iozzia / Bookworm Banter

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for reading and reviewing it.

Reading books about mental health, especially ones written by people who have experienced the mental health illnesses, can be difficult to do. This book is about a woman in her twenties, Anna, an ex-ballerina whose health has declined so drastically, she must stay in an in-patient home for women with eating disorders. Anna has anorexia, and she has been battling it for years now. Loved by her husband, Matthias, and her family, she feels the motivation to get better.

This book is difficult to read in different ways, but this book is important. We read through Yara’s voice, explaining her own experiences, but through the medium of Anna’s story. Anorexia is very personal, and we see Yara’s own heart and sadness in the story. This book does not glamorize eating disorders, unlike many forms of media about mental health. We see the happy lives of Anna and Matthias turn cold and lonely as Anna descends into her anorexia. We see heartbreaking patients that Anna befriends. We see death in the home.

This book is told in a very poetic style, with descriptions but not set prose. Everything seems more in Anna’s head than told out loud. When we do see Anna’s past, we are told through third person omniscient, which gives us the information that Anna does not tell us.

Now, with a mental health book about characters in a mental help facility, we know that they will either fail or improve, so we are not surprised with the path that Anna goes through. We have hope for her, but we also are frustrated with some of her decisions. I enjoyed this book, but I did not enjoy this book at the same time. I think that as someone who has never struggled with mental health issues, that I do not feel as sympathetic or understanding, because I do not know how this character feels. I do want her to get better, to be happy again. I recommend this book for those who enjoy reading mental health fiction but not to those who would like to learn more about anorexia. This is more about Anna’s relationship, her family, and her rather than her eating disorder.

"The Silent Patient"

"The Silent Patient"

Written by Alex Michaelides

Review written by Diana Iozzia

Like other people, I have enjoyed reading many psychological thrillers and mysteries. To the point where when I have a plot twist ending revealed to me, I find myself either satisfied that it was a good twist that made the book completely new to me, or extremely dissatisfied that the ending ruined the book for me. In the odd case of “The Silent Patient”, I disliked the book until the ending, enjoyed the ending and how it connected the two narratives told to us, but still disliked the book. The ending was satisfying, because it explained everything, or so I thought. In the recent days after reading this book, I hesitated in writing my review, because I felt too many contrasting thoughts. Did I like this aspect? Wait, no I didn’t. Did I like this character? Well, not when I realized the truth.

This book is extremely difficult to discuss without explaining the plot twist. I think this is why the hype is so dramatic. How can you discuss a twist ending that completely changes the book from the first line to the last? This idea is fantastic! It could be a completely new way to write a book. Only then we remember many thrillers that are exactly like this. I compare this book to “Murder on the Orient Express” or “The Sixth Sense”. Once we understand the truth, we dive back into every character’s sentence or motivation. We dive back into the two perspectives and look for inconsistencies, complications, and plot holes. Boy, I am not so sure I enjoyed the second read through. Granted, I did not read every line, but in remembering how the book progressed, I found myself aggravated. When creating a twist ending, I believe that you should create an ending that disrupts the story and turns it on its head. Then, you should have created a story that cohesively glues both the explained narrative to the twist, allowing no questions or holes. Everything should match back together like a puzzle piece. Perhaps this is wishful thinking, as I have enjoyed reading thrillers and mysteries for most of my life. Perhaps it can be difficult to create a unique twist ending nowadays. However, I have read many, many fantastic psychological thrillers that are more enjoyable and more consistent than this.  

We question the motives of both main characters, Dr. Theo Faber’s and Alicia Berenson’s, as we look back into his narrative and then Alice’s diaries. We question how on Earth did this character think like this, once we know the truth? Why did this character think this way? There are so many aspects of this book that do not connect properly once you read the story. We do not comprehend why characters chose certain actions, even though we know understand the truth.

To continue, the main character is first and foremost the narrator, Theo. We have his storyline: him grappling with his wife cheating in addition to his budding career helping Alice as her psychologist. When we read through his perspective, he is unlikeable, irritating, and obsessive: to a point that I found myself not enjoying his character’s perspective. Alice’s diaries slowly progressing, explaining her husband’s behavior and her increasing dislike for him makes us wonder why she has decided to kill him. We also have side characters that we question their motives and decisions as well, but I do not think they received the attention they needed in the story. They did not feel fleshed out or realistic.

In conclusion, I personally do not recommend this novel. I enjoyed Alex Michaelides's writing, but his talent was not a match for the story. I would still happily read his next book, but "The Silent Patient" just did not do it for me. Perhaps this could be a good psychological thriller if you enjoy going back into every single sentence and picking apart each meaning, but I do not. I enjoyed the ending, because I did not see it coming, but it still does not make this an enjoyable read for me. I am glad I stuck it through, but this is just not the book for me. Perhaps I'll read it again in five years.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for reviewing purposes.

"Necessary People"

“Necessary People”

Written by Anna Pitoniak

Review written by Diana Iozzia

Ambition is a powerful thing. So powerful that it can become consuming, but it also can manifest in ways that we do not typically expect. This psychological thriller is first and foremost about ambition and jealousy, but not in the way that we usually find in this genre. This book is eviscerating; it consumes everything you could possibly imagine and the fire just keeps spreading.

We meet Violet, our ruthless protagonist and antagonist. She is tired of being eclipsed by her beautiful, outrageous, exciting best friend, Stella. Violet is becoming successful in her position at a popular newsroom. We see almost a relationship similar to Nick Caraway and Jay Gatsby: that loving admiration hiding a secret jealousy and judgment. We see cracks form early on, especially through memories and secrets that the characters taunt each other with. Violet is extremely likeable. We feel for her. We encourage her as she continues to stand up for herself. She receives better promotions, makes more money, builds new and healthy relationships, while Stella has remained the same immature woman she always was. Stella holds money and power over Violet’s head. Dangling like a mobile. We hate her for Violet, as if we want to protect Violet from Stella’s malevolent friendship.

The story builds as each character fights to be more successful. We reach an absolute fever pitch when one of them makes a decision they can finally not take back. How we see our characters continue afterwards changes how we think of ourselves, in fact. We excuse a heinous crime, because we would do the same. We are manipulated in this story, to excuse something so horrible. We do not feel guilt, as the character feels happier after. We do not want a consequence; we want the character to be free. This was a twist that floored me, halfway through.

My favorite part of this thriller was the characters. We enjoy the side characters. They’re fun. We support them. We hate them. We wish they were out of the picture. But we also are sympathetic in the worst ways. Have you ever read a book where you should not want someone to win? That we like them so much we excuse their horrific acts? We understand them, because we have thought the same way.

I really cannot reveal anymore information. This is a thriller unlike anything I have read in a very long time. We not only have a character study, but we have ambition at its peak, in the high-speed, cutthroat setting of a newsroom. This book is so much more than I expected. I will be waiting with bells until Anna Pitoniak writes her next book. I cannot praise this book anymore than I already have.

I received a complimentary reader’s edition for reviewing purposes.

"In Paris With You"

“In Paris With You”

Written by Clémentine Beauvais

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

“I hear two tambourines pounding faster, shaking and vibrating inside their chests”.

“In Paris With You” is a modern romance told in a poetic, airy style. We are treated to a funny, charming, mysterious, sad, and bittersweet story. This romance is reminiscent of many other more realistic romances that I have enjoyed, like “Once”, “The Last Five Years”, “Where She Went”, “The Light We Lost”, and “Bridges of Madison County”. I have always held a candle for romances in which characters find each other after some time has passed. The “one that got away” theme is prevalent through many of the love stories I have enjoyed. I am also a fan of limited time romances. The chance encounter in which characters only have so little time to reconnect and fall back in love again. For example, in “Where She Went” by Gayle Forman was special for me, because we meet the characters and see their love lost, over the span of twenty-four hours.

When we meet our characters in Clémentine Beauvais’s love story, we are introduced to them by an omniscient first-person narrative. Now, this narrative was an interesting experience for me. It felt a bit strange, in the sense where I felt that we should have eventually found out who this narrator was. Is it Paris personified? Is it just for stylistic purposes? The unseen narrator reminds me of the narration from “Matilda”, by Danny DeVito. Half of the book I read in Danny DeVito’s voice.

Now, there were parts of this book I absolutely fell for. Then, there were parts that were so uncomfortable and disagreeable that I just could not let go of. I absolutely love our character, Tatiana. She is beautiful, kind, interesting, and all around a lovely character. I was interested in her art thesis and fell in love with the artist she is writing her thesis about. She is passionate, but she is ambitious about her career. She does not seem to want this reconnection and romance again. She was only fourteen when she had developed her crush on him. They only crushed on each other as young teens; this was not a crazy, beautiful, epic love story that went wrong. Eugene had kissed her sister at a party and then like teenagers, it ruined everything. As adults, surely you would not think passion and love and epic romance would surface out of the dregs of their young teenager years.

Eugene is another story. At first, I like him, because he’s honest and sad and a bit mixed up currently. But then we constantly experience his lust and craving for Tatiana’s body and her attention. He is so much more interested in her again, and she is just more focused on her career. So much of his side of the story is just lamenting that she could be sleeping with her professor and that she focuses too much on things that are not him. I was so disappointed in his character. I can understand that his feelings may remerge for her, but it is so quick and sweeping and at times, unsettling.

I did love the narrative style, even if the narrator was a bit hokey at times with parentheses, asides, and jokes about the characters. I would not have minded if the narrator did not exist. However, I absolutely love the lyrical prose. There are so many gorgeous lines that sound that they belong in soft ballads.

Personally, I love how this story ended. The ambiguous “perhaps, someday” ending absolutely felt right for this story, although it was bittersweet. This is the type of story that I will look back on and read again, wondering how these characters would eventually live their lives.

"My Sister, The Serial Killer"

“My Sister, The Serial Killer”
Written by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

“My Sister, The Serial Killer” sheds a comedic but dark light on the side of serial killing we do not often see depicted: the effect on the family. This fun but unsettling thriller is an enjoyable read. I read this during the holiday season, days after moving into my first home in a different country. So, perhaps I read this at the optimal time.

This is not a detailed story, with descriptions that are enthralling. This is short book, with a small plot. Our main character, Korede, has to repeatedly clean up after her sister’s killing. Her sister, Ayoola, is an immature serial dater, whose boyfriends mysteriously die. To others. To Korede, she knows everything her sister is doing and is the best woman for the job to clean up the blood.

This book encompasses all of the amusing and not-so-serious parts of “American Psycho”, “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, and reminds me a lot of “Jennifer’s Body”. We have a childlike curiosity to see how the story will progress. I enjoyed this, because I did not have to look for plot holes, poor dialogue, red herrings, dramatic choices, and more. This book took all of the grave and solemn parts out of a mystery and thriller, by making it entertaining in other ways. I really enjoyed this, and I hope that it will be made into a film.

Also, I have to mention that I enjoyed the location of Lagos, Nigeria. I do not personally know all that much about Nigeria, so it was interesting to learn about the food, the dialect, the police investigations, and the culture. I hope to read more of this author in the future. 

"Tales of Mystery and Imagination"

"Tales of Mystery and Imagination"
Written by Edgar Allan Poe
Review written by Diana Iozzia


The collection of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, known as "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is a wonderful classic in the horror and mystery genres. I have been a reader of Edgar Allan Poe for years, for at least most of my childhood and adulthood. Due to this, I had read a few of the stories in the collection, but I was relatively impressed by the other ones I had not yet heard of.

"The Gold Bug" is a mystery including puzzles and codes. I personally enjoyed this, because it reminded by of "The Most Dangerous Game". We start to suspect that the narrator's friend has a threatening motivation behind the hunt for treasure on which they have embarked.

"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is a strange sort of "campfire" story or story that you'd tell at a sleepover. It is an archetypal ghost story. Our narrator is interested in mesmerism and hypnotism. He tells of his friend who was in a comatose state, but kept alive in a mesmerized state.

"Message Found in a Bottle" has a narrator who writes in his diary as a whirlpool consumes his crew and ship.

"A Descent into the Maelstrom" features a narrator who is told a story of a man delving into a maelstrom. I personally was not charmed by this one.

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Mystery of Marie Roget", and "The Purloined Letter" were the biggest disappointments for me in this collection. I was astounded by my dislike for Poe's mystery short stories. They were unrealistic and boring to me.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is one of my favorite films starring Vincent Price. I was surprised by the lack of detail and plot in the actual story it was based on. I still liked the plot: a man visits his old friend, whose own mental health and that of his sister's has been ruined by the house.

"The Pit and the Pendulum" features a character plagued by imprisonment in a horrific pit.

"The Premature Burial" features smaller vignettes about people who are at the brink of death, but are buried alive.

"The Black Cat" was one of my favorite stories that I found through this collection. I had heard of it before, but had not read it. It features a man spiral through different levels of insanity, haunted by his murdered cat.

"The Cask of the Amontillado" and "The Tell Tale Heart" are stories I know like the back of my hand and love.

"The Oblong Box" features a man who encounters strange occurrences while on a cruise with his wife. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

"Ligeia" hosts a narrator who talks about the odd mysteries surrounding his wife's death.

"Silence: A Fable" has a demon recall his journey through a dark abyss.

"The Man of the Crowd" features a narrator follow and observe a mysterious man in London.

"Some Words with a Mummy" is a more comedic story. A group of scientists meet a man who has been mummified that rises and speaks to them.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this collection. I personally love short stories, especially the works of Edgar Allan Poe. I have to say, I thought the glossary and index in this book was not at all helpful for understanding the stories.

"Lullaby"

“Lullaby”

Written by Leila Slimani

Review written by Diana Iozzia

As I began to read “Lullaby”, I was drawn in by the first chapter. We instantly know that the child, Adam, is dead, and Lila is dying. Then, we jump back to before our main characters have met this perfect nanny, who has seemingly killed the children and then herself. We meet Myriam and her husband. 

The story is mainly told through a third person omniscient narration, primarily focusing on Myriam. Myriam is a frazzled and bedraggled mother, who is not very happy with her life and her current situation. She decides to go back to work, but to do so, she wants to find “the perfect nanny” to take care of her children.

In comes Louise, who is slightly suspicious and strange. She’s a bit rough with the children, she can say inappropriate things, and she is often just a little eerie. We readers start to wonder if she is not who she says she is, but we also have the knowledge that she might eventually snap and kill the children.

The book is not so much of a whirlwind, but a carefully concocted plot. We still have shocking moments and surprises along the way, but I was quite disappointed in the ending. I am absolutely not so sure of what I have read, and I think this might call for a re-read. I do not understand how we truly jumped from a slightly strange nanny to a cold child killer. I cannot link the connection. 

I enjoyed this book, but the ending left me empty. I’m not so sure about how I feel about it, because it feels like a large chunk of the book was ripped out. I feel like the lack of a cohesive ending was not ambiguous, paying off in a great mystery. Rather, I feel the book had crashed and burned, leaving us with too many questions.

"Sticks and Stones Falling From the Sky"

"Sticks and Stones Falling From the Sky"
Written by Andrew Daniels
Review written by Diana Iozzia 



"Sticks and Stones Falling From the Sky" is a very romantic but mystical book of poetry. When beginning to read this book, I instantly felt connected on a fantasy level, with elements of knights, kings, queens, elves, mythical creatures, vikings, dwarves, giants, different type periods, samurai, and more. I read this book not long after finally watching all of the Lord of the Rings films, so I felt a bit of fantasy connection there. 

Andrew Daniels creates great personification, metaphors, and similes to create his poetry. There is a dream-like quality to his poems, and it's greatly appreciated by me. The cover of this book is beautiful, and the font and layout inside the book are great as well. 

I had many favorite poems in this collection. Here are the poems I enjoyed most:

"Autumn" *
"Grass"
"Waves from a Mermaid Violin" *
"Steel Love and Steel Faith"
"Gardens of Honor and Respect"
"Gift of the Silver Tongue"
"Spring, Summer, Winter"
"The Sunshine Here and the Sunshine There"
"The Sun Dances with the Moon"
"Playing Hardball with God"
"A Ladder to the Moon"
"Dancing to Italy"

I fully recommend this book of poetry. It was a wonderful read for me. I received this book of poetry in partnership to read and review it.

"A Penny For Your Thoughts"

“A Penny for Your Thoughts”

Written by Sherrill S. Cannon

Sherrill Cannon’s poetry is beautiful, in the way that your grandmother’s voice sounded as she brushed your hair. I feel like I should be reading this book of poetry while sitting outside and breathing in morning air. I could see how lovely this book would be if read on a vacation in the countryside. This book reminds me of my aunt and her little kitchen with cute chair cushions and the nice decorations.

Mrs. Cannon’s writing is melodic and soothing, like a cup of tea with your favorite relative would be. I love Mrs. Cannon’s personification and metaphors. She often personifies things in nature, how they behave, how they hold meaning to her. I feel that if I wrote poetry, it would be something like this. There are many favorite poems in this collection, so bear with me. I really enjoyed reading these.

My favorite poems in this collection are:

“A Promise”, “A Sign” History”, “I Think of You”, “Proposal”, “The Box”, “To a Holly Tree”, “Thorns”, “Winter’s Nuptials”, “Autumn”, “Brief Meeting”, “Frozen Wasteland”, “Grandfather Clock”, “Flowers”, “My Tree”, “Peter Pan”, “Ready”, “Separation”, “The Fork”, “When Death Comes For Me”, “Winter” 1-4, “A Year”.

* I thank Sherrill deeply and wholeheartedly for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. *

          

"Let Me Lie"

 “Let Me Lie”

Written by Clare Mackintosh

 

          As a person who frequents charity shops, thrift stores, library sales, and many independent book stores, I’ve come across Clare Mackintosh’s name many times. I’ve looked at her books on shelves, considered many times. When I was offered the chance to read her newest book as an advanced reader’s copy, I was very thrilled.

          “Let Me Lie” is a very complex plot, but it begins when a new mother, Anna Johnson, receives mail that seems to insinuate her late parents were murdered, rather than dead by committing suicide. Anna becomes terrified and entangled in this plot, working with Murray, a little old soon-to-be retired police officer.

          See, the great thing about this book is the amount of plot twists and turns. However, this also makes for a really hard line to tread while writing a review. Clare Mackintosh includes about four to five main plot twists. Some of them are surprising, some of them are easy to figure out as the book progresses. I always think that a good mystery lets you find out who can be behind it all, before the main character realizes. This is situational irony, but Mackintosh does a bit more foreshadowing than I would like.

          I liked the characters. The narrative style is very interesting, as it follows four different perspectives, Anna, Murray, and I can’t really tell you who the other perspectives follow. Mainly because they change when you realize more information and it would spoil a bit of the plot. I would recommend if you do not want to be spoiled in reading my review, you should probably not read any further.

          Spoilers now. Anna Johnson is an interesting and likeable character. All too often, the narrator or main character of a psychological thriller can be unlikeable. Think, Amy Dunne of Gone Girl, Rachel of Girl on The Train, (the widow’s name from The Widow. I can’t remember, it’s been at least 8 months since I’ve read it). We also wonder for a bit of time if Mark, Anna’s husband, could possibly be in on it. I have to say there are some great red herrings in this book. Is that person involved, who could actually be behind this? I was very happy that the main person I was concerned about was not actually involved in this suspenseful plot.

          Can I also just say how often I’ve read psychological thrillers where the main characters are Mark, Anna, Claire, Tom? If you’re writing an English psychological thriller, pick something else. I haven’t heard of a recent psychological thriller with a main character named Adam, or Jacob, or Thelonious. I might be a bit cynical, but if I read too many of these books in this genre, I won’t be able to decipher characters, sooner or later.

          I have quite a few points to make that are full of spoilers, so like I said, pleeeease don’t read on if you’re wary of spoilers. I always tab my pages with Sticky Notes or bookmarks, so I will be looking now to see the points that I wanted to make sure were said in my review.

          The plot progresses as expected for a larger psychological thriller. I think that the extra bits about Anna’s life or Murray’s home life are interesting, but sometimes, they feel a bit extraneous. Murray’s wife suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. I know not much of this disorder, but his wife’s storyline is a bit clichéd for my liking. Murray’s plot line makes sense and is necessary to the plot, but I don’t think I would have enjoyed it less if his perspective was not included.

          The narrative is separated into three parts, similar to the three act play structure. At the end of part one, we receive a huge shock, whoa, how on Earth did that play out? (It’s really not that shocking, we knew it was happening, but Anna did not, of course). Because we receive perspectives of the villains, we know exactly how each plan is going to be executed. It’s as if we knew the janitor was scaring people away from the school in a werewolf costume the whole time, and now we’re waiting to see how Scooby Doo is going to find that out. I think if we only had Anna’s perspective throughout this story, it would have been more effective, shocking, and compelling. I would definitely have enjoyed it more, because I am not the type of person to enjoy knowing the villains’ intentions the whole time. I like finding out everything as a shock at the end.

          As a few of the plot twists go, I was okay with some of the reveals, but some of them just seemed extraneous and unnecessary. We find out near the end exactly how everything has occurred, and who are the people behind it all. However, did we have to sit through 150 pages incorrectly wondering how one of the villains is going to come destroy Anna? The bogeyman isn’t so scary when you find out why he’s creeping around. I don’t enjoy reading psychological thrillers where I’m believing something for a large portion of time, and BAM the spoiler is that it’s something else entirely. It feels like a cheap cop out of a plot twist. In addition, we have two little end bits to wrap up Mark’s story and Murray’s story. Murray’s story wrap-up is very expected, but I don’t think it was necessary for this book. A separate book on Borderline Personality Disorder maybe, but it felt like the season finale of “Degrassi” or another teen soap. Mark’s story ending makes a lot of sense for the book, I just wish we cared a little more about him the entire way. I remember reading a psychological thriller over the Christmas break, and I just found myself loving the main love interest, so much that I didn’t really care what happened to the main character. Will her life come to a crazy crashing halt? Nah, just the husband matters. Mark would have been a much more interesting character if Anna involved him in the story.

          Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed the last 75 pages or so. Once the climax began, it just kept going through a high-speed car chase, a crazy showdown in an apartment building. The first 2/3^rds of the book weren’t hard to put down, but the last act was. And the best part of the book, the family pet was not murdered. (Why does this always happen in psychological thrillers? Not cool!)

          Last page, I mean come on already, we’re finished up. No cliffhanger wanted or needed, thank you though.

* I received an advanced reader’s copy for reviewing purposes. *

"One of Us Is Lying"

"One of Us is Lying"
Written by Karen M. McManus
Review written by Diana Iozzia


I read this book a couple of days ago, after finding a ruined, beat up copy with the red paint from the pages leaked out all over the cover. Needless to say, I wasn't bothered by the condition. I had heard some negative reviews of this book, and I was curious when I saw it severely inexpensive at a charity shop. 

"One of Us Is Lying" follows four characters who are investigated after their classmate is poisoned in the detention in which they were all in attendance. All are suspects. Simon was the outsider. Bronwyn is the smart, but secretive student. Nate is the bad boy. Cooper is the baseball star. Addy is the pretty princess of the school. Who killed Simon?

This is a very obvious cut and dry young adult mystery in all of the Breakfast Club-soaked stereotypes. There's lots of timely jokes and mentions of popular social media. Tumblr, 4chan, Reddit forums, Instagram, and Facebook are full of curious insiders and intrigue into the mystery. 

I read this in about three hours on an empty afternoon, and it didn't disappoint. There are some irritating bits about sexism and mental illness, but I got over them. You know, "Oh, the boys are more popular in the news, because people like boys more". Okay, whatever, sure. I guess the book has to appeal to some feminists too. 

The ending was more surprising than I figured, but I figured the ending out right about the time that I think everyone else did. Some people I've read reviews by mentioned that they figured it off right off the hat. I felt that when reading "Murder on the Orient Express" in December, my entire focus was solving the murder, rather than soaking up the mystery. With this book, I just enjoyed it and had suspicions towards the killer, but I wasn't too worried about solving it myself. The ending is good, surprising, and necessary. As I mentioned, there are lots of story elements that fit in with the social climate nowadays, lots of political correctness and tropes of the past years, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but it was just a good YA mystery.

"The Couple Next Door"

"The Couple Next Door" 
Written by Shari Lapena
Review written by Diana Iozzia



I have very mixed feelings about this book. I borrowed it from the library, read it last night, and finished it five minutes ago. This book is very complex with many different characters, lies, and plot twists. Are they all fantastic? Well, you see my rating out of five. I enjoyed this for the fast, intriguing pace, but this was predictable. And repetitive. And by the last few pages, the final plot twist just felt normal to me. It's similar to a bag of Halloween candy for me. You eat all of the boring ones first, and by the time you get to your favorite candy, it's really great. Then, you have three more and it doesn't feel special anymore.

Anne and Marco visited their neighbors for a little birthday dinner, leaving their six month-old daughter, Cora, asleep in her crib. They return, she's gone. Wow. I think the best part of this book is the investigation completed by Detective Rasbach. It's very reminiscent of the detectives Boney and Gilpin from "Gone Girl" or the actual crime story of Laci and Scott Peterson. I enjoyed that Detective Rasbach was very thorough and investigated all of the right people, places, and events. It bugs me in books when the detectives aren't that thorough, and they may make mistakes. Rasbach was just the right level of intelligent, where he didn't figure out the entire plot magically.

This book is very well-written, but the story wasn't as impressive as I hoped it to be. We have the scary truth of the kidnapping told to us half-way through, which I appreciated, but it wasn't interesting. The people involved in the kidnapping were very obvious. The eventual main villain in the book wasn't as obvious, but yet again, this wasn't a great reveal. I think I need to stay away from psychological thrillers involving kidnappings of children, because they don't interested me as greatly as other p.t. crimes. I also think this book had a little of a tendency to bite off more than it could chew. Which I don't say lightly. I wasn't impressed by the side characters, I mainly only felt sympathetic towards the women characters, and Anne's dissociative identity disorder seemed all too convenient for the plot and twists. Lastly, I do recommend this, but I just felt a little disappointed. I would definitely read another novel by Shari Lapena in the future. I'll check out "A Stranger in the House" and report back.

"All We Saw"

“All We Saw”

Written by Anne Michaels

Review written by Diana Iozzia

           

            Recently, I’ve been really getting back into reading poetry. After a great booktuber recommended R.H. Sin’s books, I read many of them. I also decided to read more, and then more poetry. I stumbled upon “All We Saw” by Anne Michaels. This is a very small collection of slightly angsty, slightly confusing, slightly naturalistic poetry. I personally tend to read natural, simple, and romantic poetry, so this had a slight step in the right direction.

            I honestly dislike rating poetry, because I feel that poetry is so different to everyone who reads it, especially modern poetry. I am personally rating this, as I read it, not for quality or for recommendations. I just couldn’t really get into it. Many of the poems in this collection were very long and not so cohesive. I enjoyed some parts of poems more than the poem entirely, so to best describe what I liked, I am listing the page numbers and/or name of the poem.

Pg. 14 from ‘Sea of Lanterns’.

‘Somewhere Night is Falling’, this is a great, long poem that each sentence starts with ‘somewhere’. I am a fan of form poems, so I enjoyed this as well as ‘To Write’.

‘Five Islands’.

Pg. 42 from ‘Bison’

Pg. 64 from ‘There Was a Distant Sound’

            The design of the book kind of bugged me. For a very small poem book, you could probably contain all of the poems on maybe six printed pages. Yaaaaay, what a great use of dead trees… Anyway, the cover image is fitting, the book without the cover is as well. Other than that, this book was a mixed bag. I enjoyed certain poems and enjoyed certain lines. I think I’ll be passing this along to a friend. I enjoyed this for what it was worth, but I don’t think I’ll be continuing to keep this in my collection.

            I received a complementary copy for reviewing purposes.