Post by Bridget in MD on Apr 19, 2024 14:45:07 GMT
3 Stars for What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez. Set in the early 1900s, in Egypt, this historical fantasy introduces us to 19 year old Inez Olivero, as she sets out to find out the truth behind her parents mysterious deaths. Her uncle, a famous archeologist is now her legal guardian, but is set on sending her home without answers. Until he realizes that Inez has a gift - she can detect "old magic" that helps them with making one of the biggest discoveries in Egyptian history, while she desperately looks for answers about her parents.
While the premise and the setting of the story was interesting, the characters and the writing was not. I think this reminded me of an Agatha Christie novel, which were probably extremely entertaining at the time, but kind of boring (for me) now. The characters were very flat for me, and honestly, it was hard to keep interested bc the story just plodding along. Maybe it was the time period where women were very much kept in check and restricted? Towards the end, things really got in a much more interesting pace and some twists, so I finished. There is a 2nd book, a conclusion, but I am not sure I am interested enough to read it.
4 Stars for Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez. "Not everything that comes out of crisis is bad. Sometimes your traumas are the reason you know how to help."
I typically really enjoy AJ's books, but this one was a tough read. She usually has her main characters have some sort of personality quirk or trait that they try to overcome or settle in to (I don't want to say "fixed by love" as if they need to be fixed) but it felt Justin and Emma had the biggest of hurdles to work through. Emma is a travelling nurse, semi-abandoned by her mom, semi-adopted into a loving family, but always on the move with her "sister" Maddy. On a whim, she enters into a chat on bc of Reddit's AITA (sidenote, I LOVE REDDIT) and sparks fly. While the girls are about to leave for a 3 month stint in Hawaii, Emma convinces Maddy to take a turn in Minnesota instead, to help her "break her curse" with Justin, who seem to suffer from the same issue. Both Emma & Justin seemed doomed to be the path for their exes to find true love once they break up.
While the premise is unlikely (seriously Hawai for Minnesota? plus if Emma is living the nomad life, why does she care to find THE ONE?), the banter is cute and whitty. And Justin is just too good to be true, way too perfect. But he is dealing with his own shit - his mom is about to head to prision and he is taking guardianship of his siblings. This is HUGE to begin with, and then you add in Emma with her abandonment issues. They are just both super heavy, hard things. There is also tremendous build up, which is wrapped up way too quickly at the end. All the stuff that is thrown at Emma (and the reader) (plus the connections to characters in the past book) is almost too much to sort through, and the romance btwn Emma and Justin takes a back seat. Perhaps having the bandaid ripped off, the perfect storm to pass must happen so when things settle down, the characters can sort out the aftermath, but it was just a lot to get through as a reader!!
While the premise and the setting of the story was interesting, the characters and the writing was not. I think this reminded me of an Agatha Christie novel, which were probably extremely entertaining at the time, but kind of boring (for me) now. The characters were very flat for me, and honestly, it was hard to keep interested bc the story just plodding along. Maybe it was the time period where women were very much kept in check and restricted? Towards the end, things really got in a much more interesting pace and some twists, so I finished. There is a 2nd book, a conclusion, but I am not sure I am interested enough to read it.
4 Stars for Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez. "Not everything that comes out of crisis is bad. Sometimes your traumas are the reason you know how to help."
I typically really enjoy AJ's books, but this one was a tough read. She usually has her main characters have some sort of personality quirk or trait that they try to overcome or settle in to (I don't want to say "fixed by love" as if they need to be fixed) but it felt Justin and Emma had the biggest of hurdles to work through. Emma is a travelling nurse, semi-abandoned by her mom, semi-adopted into a loving family, but always on the move with her "sister" Maddy. On a whim, she enters into a chat on bc of Reddit's AITA (sidenote, I LOVE REDDIT) and sparks fly. While the girls are about to leave for a 3 month stint in Hawaii, Emma convinces Maddy to take a turn in Minnesota instead, to help her "break her curse" with Justin, who seem to suffer from the same issue. Both Emma & Justin seemed doomed to be the path for their exes to find true love once they break up.
While the premise is unlikely (seriously Hawai for Minnesota? plus if Emma is living the nomad life, why does she care to find THE ONE?), the banter is cute and whitty. And Justin is just too good to be true, way too perfect. But he is dealing with his own shit - his mom is about to head to prision and he is taking guardianship of his siblings. This is HUGE to begin with, and then you add in Emma with her abandonment issues. They are just both super heavy, hard things. There is also tremendous build up, which is wrapped up way too quickly at the end. All the stuff that is thrown at Emma (and the reader) (plus the connections to characters in the past book) is almost too much to sort through, and the romance btwn Emma and Justin takes a back seat. Perhaps having the bandaid ripped off, the perfect storm to pass must happen so when things settle down, the characters can sort out the aftermath, but it was just a lot to get through as a reader!!