Melting Pages

Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I got this book in a PageHabit box, and went into the story not knowing anything about it (I didn’t even read the back cover)! I was actually very surprised by how much I liked this book. I’m a huge fantasy lover, but I’ve never read a book that was centered around the harbingers before, so it was very new and interesting to me to finally read a book that was focused on their curse. I loved Angie and how passionate she is about her music, and how her relationship with Reece isn’t over the top or overly sexualized. I also like how she was able to keep a clear head and didn’t let her feelings for him get in the way of doing what she wanted, unlike a lot of books that I’ve read this year. The ending also kind of surprised me as well, which is hard to do. I really hope that there is a follow up book to this, because I would definitely want to read it!

Here in Berlin by Cristina García

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this book in one of my PageHabit boxes, and went into it without any background on the book, I didn’t even read the synopsis of the book! I did really enjoy it, although I thought it was going to go back to the first few characters because I wanted to hear more about their lives. Some of the stories were more interesting than others, although they all provided a snapshot of their experiences during WWII. The book rambled on and each chapter was like a different book, but with the authors writing style and the contents of the book it actually worked well. My favorite story was the one about the boy who was taken captive on the submarine, I wish that it would’ve followed him a bit more. Some of the stories were also related to each other, where you would see someone from one story as a background character in another. Overall, I definitely enjoyed the book, I just wish it would’ve had a smaller focus, maybe 4 or 5 different people to follow around.

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, although it almost had pretty much the same plot as a previous book I read, called The Twilight Wife. I’m not sure which book came first or if one took inspiration from the other, but that is what made me give this book 4 stars instead of 5, because I already knew the plot and what would happen. The main difference between the two books is that in this one, Christine forgets everything from the day before when she goes to sleep, and in The Twilight Wife, Kyra cannot remember anything before or after her accident. Other than that, it was a great read and I flew through it in a few hours!

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow I really enjoyed this book! I love the interactions between Audrey Rose and Thomas and how it wasn’t really a lovey-dovey romance between them. The fact that they aren’t so in love with each other that they can’t see what is going on around them is really refreshing when it comes to YA reads. The “twist” at the end I definitely saw coming, but then again it is VERY hard for a plot twist to actually shock or surprise me. I liked how Kerri actually used pieces of history to form the basis for her book, it made the entire thing feel more realistic even though no one really knows what happened to Jack the Ripper in real life. I thoroughly enjoyed how Audrey Rose didn’t conform to society and stood up for herself and didn’t let anyone tell her what to do and was a fantastic main character and I cannot wait to pick up book two so I can follow Audrey Rose and Thomas’ journey together!
Definitely one of my favorite reads of October, and I highly recommend it!

Final Girls by Riley Sager

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a great read! I find that I guess plot twists before they happen and they don’t surprise me, so I was thrilled that the plot twist in this book actually surprised me! I absolutely did not see it coming, and I thought that the book was going to have a completely different ending. I never would’ve suspected who the actual killer was. I enjoyed that the clues pointed you in one direction until the last 10 pages or so, when you finally figure out who the real killer is. The first half of the book was kind of slow, but mainly because it was setting everything up for the last 80 pages or so. Once Quincy starts to remember what happened to her at Pine Cottage the plot picks up speed and I couldn’t put it down! Overall, this was a great thrilling read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys plot twists and thrillers.

The Bakersville Dozen by Kristina McBride

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book! I definitely did not see that twist coming, although I did have my suspicions about Jude because he seemed too good to be true. It was fun to compare the actions of everyone involved and try to come to my own conclusion about who did it, but I never would’ve suspected who the mastermind was! I really enjoyed the pacing and even though the characters weren’t really fleshed out, I think it worked just fine with the story. I did NOT like Hannah at all, she was so annoying and it seemed like she didn’t truly care about Bailey and her feelings. Good read if you want something a quick read with twists.

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book! I loved that it was a snow white retelling, but with some extra elements added in. Like magic and dragons and Sasha. My favorite character was Kol, and I wish we would’ve gotten to see more of him and his story (even though he wasn’t the main focus of the book). The whole girl fighting for her rightful place as queen trope is very prominent in YA fantasy novels, but I have to admit that those are my favorite type of books to read! Can’t wait for my copy of the next book to come in so I can read that as well.

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book, and at the same time I didn’t like this book. For me, the plot twists didn’t really make sense and seemed kind of forced. Its been a while since I’ve read this book, so maybe if I re-read it I can get more out of the book the second time around. I loved the plot and the world building.

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

DNF at around 75%. There’s just something about this book that I couldn’t handle, it was a struggle for me to even get as far as I did. It felt like the main character was just going in circles and he didn’t really know what he was doing or what he was getting himself into, and the group he formed with the two teenagers felt a little forced. I loved how the book had extras throughout, like websites and photos to help you really feel like your in the story helping them investigate. I also really liked the paper the book was printed on, which sounds strange, but this is an almost 600 page book that looks like it is less than half that. Its a nice heavy paper, and made reading the pages an enjoyable physical experience. I do think that the idea behind the story is great and I do honestly want to know what happened to Ashley Cordova, and I do want to see how the book ends. I’ll probably get around to finishing it at some point since there is no way that I can leave a book unfinished.