It started out good, gradually got better until it petered out into...just okay. The premise was exciting despite the build-up being slow, but it didn't maintain an exciting edge all throughout. The last few chapters of the book felt underwhelming and borderline cheesy. It's a light and easy read despite its themes, but it's really not mysterious enough, not deep enough, nor captivating enough to warrant a higher rating.

#TheTuscanChild

Cheers to Grames for a stunning and well-researchrd debut! This deserves its own perch on my best reads shelf. 👑📗 This book had a hold on me from start to finish. It never loosened its grip. It gave me an avenue to explore my own memories, those that were lost and forgotten due to the enormity and all-consuming exigency of being an adult. As if my childhoold was from another world, one which isn't my own.

#frostbeartstudio #julietgrames

Favorite corner when I'm at our home in the city. Grateful for that oveflowing to-read book cart. 🥰 Lovin' the variety on my cart, but especially that multiple editions of Sherlock! 💙
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#bookwormproblems #mylibrary #homelibrary #bookshelves #bookshelf #readingspace #BooksBooksBooks #BookCommunity #Bookstagram #ReaderGram #Bibliophile #BookLover #BookLover #Bookworm #Bookwormph #bookcart #bookcorner #FrostbeardStudio

I was set ablaze! Every page shone with beautiful narrative one moment, intense vicousness the next, and gut-wrenching sadness with finality. Miller doesn't teeter with her prose in retelling one of the famous stories in Greek mythology. Patroclus, as the narrator, is a crucial and effective device. With someone so intimately close to Achilles, the readers saw the hero stripped down to his core: incandescent but fallible at the same time.

Well...no :( This book bored me enough to make me want to finish it immediately so that I can be done with it and move on to a better book. The characters were utterly unrelatable. The dialogue from start to finish were childish and inane, especially considering Ursa was supposed to be "highly intelligent for her age." The conversation went around were just pointless. Another turn-off: the glaring lack of empathy exhibited by the characters.

Wounds heal. Love lasts. We remain.

This gripped me profoundly in a way I cannot explain. It broke me in ways no other WWII book did. The teeth-baring cruelty of the Nazis, in all its raw ugliness and inhumanity ignited that slow-burning realization that no matter how many books I read about the war, it will always be beyond my understanding. The ugliness and cruelty will always be something I cannot fully fathom unless I've lived through it. But this book came so close.

Go read up on The Alice Network, whether be it this book, or the real thing. Women have long proven to the world the limitless bounds of our abilities. But if people still need reminding, Louise de Bettignies' story, and countless others have always been out there in the world, waiting to be told, embraced, and heralded.

I think this is one of the most historically accurate fiction I have read. The details taken from World War I and II were explained at the end of the book and I can only marvel at how skillfully Quinn wove the fictional with the factual. Dramatic and explosive plot!

Say what you want about the woman, but I cannot deny that Rowling is still one hell of a talented writer and storyteller. The Ickabog is marketed as a children's book and rightfully so, but as an adult, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Rowling has this unique writing voice reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm, but...modernized, deviously magical and captivating.

#ickabog #jkrowling

The story is hopeful without being too idealistic. Hope and home. 💙 Two words that always inspire me to continue dreaming. Despite being Orwellian with its theme, hope and home are always central to the story, making it a 'feel-good' book. It's one of those rare stories where the author's heart reverberates in every page. TJ Klune did a fantastic job at baring his beautiful soul.

This is probably one of the most elaborate reads of my life and it makes for one very beautiful book. I didn't expect to be swept away completely. It's a long journey, and the unhurried pace Zafón set up allowed me to relish and soak in the flavours he established: the bitterness of longing and loneliness, the melancholy from all the intertwined characters gave a warm sweetness that spreads over your palate. Wonderfully dark and delicious.

I belong to that distinct minority who did not love this book. It was long and tedious for the most part. The sociopolitical commentary flew right over my head, made my eyes glaze over, and my attention wander. It wasn't a bad book per se, it just didn't hold my interest. The Count's philosophical musings often felt like I needed to have quite a bit of a background on Russia's history to be able to understand half of what's written on this book.

This book reminded me of the reason why I love crime fiction: the thrill. The pacing was great, and I was at the edge of my seat all the time I was reading it.There was even a night where my anxiety kicked in and I had to put this book down for a while because it was beginning to 'feed' it. 😅

North is definitely someone to watch out for! 🧐

#thewhisperman #alexnorth #crimefiction #goodreads