REVIEW: The Alice Network – Kate Quinn

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32051912Title: The Alice Network
Author: Kate Quinn
Rating: ★★★★★

My favorite author writing a book set during one of my favorite time periods to read about? I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t nervous that The Alice Network wouldn’t live up to my anticipation and expectations. Silly, of course, as this is Kate Quinn we’re talking about and her writing is simply phenomenal. 

Quinn continues to do a tremendous job weaving fiction with historical facts to create a vivid, magnificent novel. Her incredible writing really brings the story and characters to life. The chapters alternate between POVs of the two main characters: Eve’s story during World War I in 1915 and Charlie’s post-World War II setting of 1947. I loved seeing the contrast between of Eve’s character in the two different time periods. As the chapters go by, we slowly learn what happened to her and how she became the angry, swearing, liquor-loving older woman we see in Charlie’s chapters. I also enjoyed the development of Charlie’s character throughout the novel as she blossomed into a strong, independent young woman capable of making decisions for herself. The third character of note, Finn-a burly Scottish ex-convict and ex-soldier-was the perfection addition to the strange little trio of characters. I loved the interactions between him and Charlie and the feelings that eventually developed.

Once I started, I had a hard time setting this down. The Alice Network is full of humor, suspense, romance, heartbreak and everything I could ask for in a historical fiction. Kate Quinn definitely did not disappoint and did a great job delivering another fantastic novel that I would absolutely recommend reading. 

Book Traveling Thursdays #7: Book You Want to Read Repeatedly

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Book Traveling Thursdays is a weekly meme hosted by Danielle @ Danielle’s Book Blog and Cátia @ The Girl Who Read Too Much. Each week, you pick a book related to the theme and choose different editions of the cover: the original cover, the cover from your country (if different from the original), your favorite cover, and your least favorite cover. To see more information and a list of themes check out the Goodreads page!

This week, the topic is to pick a book that we would want to read repeatedly. For me, the answer is obvious: The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon. It’s no secret that I’ve been gushing about this book (and the author) for the past couple of months now. I’m still not over how amazing it was, and since the sequel, The Queen and the Cure, was just released, all the feels have returned. The Bird and the Sword is seriously my favorite book, and if you like fantasy and well-written romance I highly recommend it!

Note: Apparently, there are only two different covers for this book, so I changed up the headings a bit since I couldn’t stick to the “rules”. 

ORIGINAL COVER

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OTHER COVERS – GERMAN EDITION

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REVIEW: The Goblins of Bellwater – Molly Ringle

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33973968Title: The Goblins of Bellwater
Author: Molly Ringle
Rating: ★★★

ARC received through NetGalley.

I didn’t end up loving this as much as I was hoping, but Ringle weaves an interesting story and her writing was good. The atmosphere of the books is gloomy and dark, matching the mood of the original poem. It feels haunting, like I would expect a book about goblins to feel. A large portion of the book is focused on romance, which did not bother me, but if others are looking for a more fantasy heavy book they may be disappointed. My only problem was that the ending dragged. I think the last few chapters could have definitely been condensed into less, or even one epilogue. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated 2017 Releases

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish. This week’s topic is about the books we’re most excited to be released for the second half of 2017. This year has already been a pretty good so far in terms of books I’ve read and new releases, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in store!

2017 Releases

OUR DARK DUET by Victoria Schwab (June 13) | THE DAY OF THE DUCHESS by Sarah MacLean (June 27) | DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY by Amanda Foody (July 25) | WICKED LIKE WILDFIRE by Lana Popović (August 15) | THE DUCHESS DEAL by Tessa Dare (August 22) | WARCROSS by Marie Lu (September 12) | INVICTUS by Ryan Graudin (September 26) | RETRIBUTION RAILS by Erin Bowman (November 7) | RENEGADES by Marissa Meyer (November 7) | IMMORTAL REIGN – Morgan Rhodes (December 12)

REVIEW: The Queen and the Cure – Amy Harmon

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34356650Title: The Queen and the Cure
Author: Amy Harmon
Rating: ★★★★★

“I saw you,” he said against her lips. “And I never looked away.”

After finishing The Bird and the Sword, I was curious to know more about Kjell and was ecstatic to learn that there would be a sequel focused on him. It’s easy to get your hopes up about a book, only to be frustrated and crestfallen when it doesn’t live up to your expectations. Thankfully, I was not disappointed by this book as The Queen and the Cure was everything I had hoped for and more.

Amy Harmon continues to impress me as a writer and storyteller. Her writing, as always, is beautiful and possesses a lyrical quality, and her ability to create magical, enchanting stories is unparalleled in my eyes. Kjell was a wonderful character in the first book, and I’m glad the author decided to tell this story solely from his point of view, because he made an amazing protagonist. Kjell is flawed, devoted, loyal, compelling, and stern. He is both a tough warrior and a compassionate healer. He’s one of my favorite characters that I’ve ever read. 

“He was a warrior. He was not a man who loved or nurtured. He’d been given a gift that was so at odds with who he was that he wanted to howl in frustration and sink his sword into something lethal.”

The romance in the story was both wonderful to read about and heartbreaking. The relationship between Kjell and Sasha was so beautiful and pure, and yet completely devastating. I could feel Kjell’s longing and Sasha’s desolation as if it were my own. 

“There were no secrets, no sorrows, nothing hidden, nothing lost. They saw not what would be or what had been, but only what was.
She saw him.
He saw her.
And they saw nothing else.”

Amy Harmon has once again blown me away with another one of her stories. The Queen and the Cure was just as incredible and enchanting as I hoped it would be. These stories will no doubt stay with me always.