booklistqueen's reviews
595 reviews

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is where the overarching series story arc really feels starts to kick in. Rowling does an excellent job of balancing the fun and joy of being a student at Hogwarts and normal preteen problems with the darker story of a convict on the loose and Lord Voldemort's supporters gaining power.  

The second book of the Harry Potter series continues the imaginative nature of the first book and deepens the world building. To the charm of the magical world, Rowling uses her classic good vs evil theme to start to introduce a little more darkness into the school year. As an adult, it sometimes shocks me how nonchalant the wizarding world is about danger to children but I have to remind myself, it's just a book. 

J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is engaging and imaginative and just as entertaining for adults as children. I love rereading this series to spot the foreshadowing of future plot points. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone does an excellent job kicking off the series, mostly focusing on the incredible world-building and letting you fall in love with Harry, Ron and Hermione. 

Laura Dave aimed for a slow-burn thriller that mostly just fizzles out. You don't have to wonder if Liam's death was a murder because the very first chapter reveals he was pushed. Yet, the mystery of whodunit never felt compelling or even that interesting. The family drama sparked a little interest for me although the siblings fell rather flat, especially the brother. Though the story wasn't particularly memorable, I did like the nice twist near the end. 

Liane Moriarty's latest novel was an interesting read but the broad cast of characters kept it from being quite as gripping as her former novels. It took a while for me to get into Here One Moment. The initial flight takes up the whole first quarter of the book. However, once a got a feel for all the characters, I was surprisingly attached and dreading their deaths. Although I enjoyed the look at fate versus free will, I struggled with the chapters from the Death Lady's point of view. Fortunately, the entire story connected in a satisfactory ending that tied everything together well.

I completely fell in love with this family drama about addiction and grief. Mellors does a fabulous job showing the complicated and messy connections between sisters and yet also highlighting the enduring love running underneath. I enjoyed how each sister had a different way of coping with their chaotic childhood and the death of their sister, but each showed addictive tendencies in her own way. 

After her darling bestseller The Wishing Game, I was excited to see Meg Shaffer take on a new story with Narnia vibes. At first, I loved the mystery of Jeremy and Rafe and their time in a magical land when they were children. However, once they traveled through the looking glass, the book just completely tanked. The plot, pacing, world-building, dialogue and character relationships were all very poorly executed in the second half. A terribly disappointing read that I can't recommend to anyone.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Ballantine Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. 

Lisa Wingate pens a feel-good historical fiction novel with a dual timelines that starts strong but lacks a satisfying ending. I thought Shelterwood's modern story was more compelling than I typically find in this genre. Wingate also did an excellent job researching the historical injustice in Oklahoma and showed how poorly children and Native Americans were treated. Yet, I didn't think the two story lines tied together well and they both lacked the emotional resolution I would have liked.

I was caught off-guard by how much I loved The Husbands. Instead of the steamy romance I was lead to expect (and slightly dread), The Husbands is a thoughtful contemporary fiction novel. Gramazio presents you with a clever premise and then plays out the narrative in an extremely realistic character study of how this circumstance affects Lauren. The Husbands presents you with the benefits and dangers of having an infinite choice and adds enough twists to keep the story engaging and discussion-worthy. 

In Firebrand, Kristen Britain balances the story between Karigan's latest Green Rider adventure and the political intrigue back at the Capital. Although the novel takes a grimmer tone than early books, it also does the most to advance the relationship between King Zachary and Karigan. While the supernatural elements are a bit overdone, I still really enjoy the series as a whole.