kateships's reviews
159 reviews

This one is hard for me, I read it at the recommendation of a friend, and I did not NOT like it. I loved the setting and how much Alaska was sort of its own character in the story. I liked following the family and their struggles, and how the small town bands together and supports each other, even though it was dark and upsetting a lot of the time. The relationships between characters were complex and really well done. 

Where the book lost me really was

at the end, after they’ve gone through all the trauma. They had this awesome mom-daughter moment where they kill dad and drop him in the lake, then rather than having a time of reception and joy, they had to inflict MORE trauma by leaving and staying away. THEN the mom gets cancer and dies before Leni can have a “happy ending.”

At that point it just felt like too much and made it hard to enjoy. 

This was upsetting, it made me sob, it made me angry, but overall it is a good book, it’s just not one you read if you want something light or happy. 

I really enjoyed this story, and the longer it sits with me the more I enjoy remembering it. 

I thought the imagery was gorgeous and the world was unique and imaginative. I struggled a little with the letter format - it made the whole story start off very stiff and formal and made it difficult to get into. However, as it went along and the characters opened up and you got more information in each letter, it moved quickly and got exciting. 

You felt as though you were looking in on this mystery getting solved and unraveled before your eyes and even though I inferred what happened, when the *big thing* is revealed, you still get the shock of what happens next.

I do hope there is a second book exploring what comes after the end of the story, though I hope its not in letters because I really can’t imagine how that would work.

I really enjoyed this. When I was about halfway through i described it as “old creepy house, ghosts and local superstitions, suspicious guy, potential monsters, mystery to solve.”

I don’t really read much YA (typically it doesn’t appeal to me), but sometimes a story catches my eye like this one, and I really enjoyed Juniper & Thorn by the same author, so I gave it a shot. I found Effy a bit annoying at first because she’s a grown woman but very emotional and stubborn, but as you learn more about her and she grows along the way, I didn’t mind this as much. The romance was a bit quick, but very sweet. 

The story was less of a shocking and exciting tale with a big reveal, but more like we were given puzzle pieces and by the end we knew what the picture was, and the climax was confirming what you already felt was true.  

I found it gorgeous and atmospheric. I loved the mythical fairytale aspect to it, and since there’s apparently a sequel coming next year, I hope we get to learn more about the actual world they live in. 

This book is very much it’s own story, but it fell into the same bucket as Divine Rivals and One Dark Window for me (I loved both duologies).  Otherworldly forces at play, a sweet/light young (but adult) romance, a unique fantastical but familiar world, and a feeling that we learned along the way with the characters rather than having huge action-packed stories. 

I’m not sure I liked this.

It’s not a bad book at all, it’s just either not what I expected, or not what I was really looking for (or both?). 

It’s a cool concept, weird and different and interesting. The characters are unique.

There was too many pages at the part where Steve killed the dogs, that could have been edited down???

. 

Overall I had a hard time getting through it though. So it’s not a bad book, but maybe not for me. 

This was good. Bleak and dark, but a strangely human account from a character  who never got to be a normal human.

I felt myself a bit disappointed and felt unfulfilled at the end.

I wish there was  a spark of hope even if only for us, the readers. Maybe a cut to the end of someone finding her writing or opening the door. I know us reading her writing implies someone found it, but it would have been more satisfying to have it written into the story since we never find out why they were being held captive.

This definitely makes sense for the story and reflects the experience of the women - hopeless and never getting any answers, but as a reader I wish we got something more. 

Overall it was powerful and brutal, and worth the time it took. 

She was SO unlikeable I wasn’t even rooting for her. 

I don’t even know what I could say about this book that hasn’t already been said. East of Eden is my favorite book of all time, but I understand why Grapes is the one commonly read in schools. 

This story is cruel and upsetting and full of injustice. It’s such a poignant criticism of the systems that were in play during the dust bowl era, but is still resoundingly relevant today. 

It enraged me, it shocked me, it hit me right in the gut. 

This broke me. I know it’s fictional as we know very little about the actual people depicted, but it was so beautiful. 

Agnes is the main character of this, really. I didn’t expect to find such a sweet love story, the heavy depiction of grief that I really felt, or the end that was abrupt but just right. 

It’s hard to recommend because once you get to the part where the big thing happens, it’s SO hard to read because of how devastating it is, but it was exceptional and I loved how the author ended it. 

This was so different than I expected. I found the concept super fun and interesting and I immediately loved the main few characters. 

The ending was so clever and just *chefs kiss*. 

I tend to have a hard time with more sci-fi type stories though, so I wasn’t obsessed but I’m sure I will read the next one.