As with every anthology, there are hits and misses. Kamila Shamsie's Churail was definitely my favourite!

3.5 Stars, rounded up!

First, thanks to NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I had fun! Read it in two sittings, and I quite liked the mystery of it all. The main two characters were kind and so lovely to read-- their chaos and care for each other as the book progressed was a genuinely good experience as we see the main character find his own self-worth as the story progresses. And as far as I am aware, the ADHD representation was done quite well, which is a definite plus!

There were a couple of things that took me a little put of the story: the setting, the style, and the epilogue. The setting-- time-wise, at least-- was confusing. It took me quite a bit to understand when this book was taking place. The style was not at all haunting enough. With the focus on the fact that the story is set in a Gothic mansion and the title, I assumed the writing to be a little more gothic horror and less... contemporary? Forgive me if that's the wrong term; I don't know how else to word it. Last, the epilogue was deeply disappointing. We get a rushed summary of events post-climax, including mentions of both Buzzfeed and Goodreads. It just felt like we didn't quite see more of the consequences of the family's actions.

All in all, I had a good time. The mystery isn't too daunting, nor is the text, so it is quite a low-stakes read.

featuring nazi hunters, a badass night witch, and a clever girl with the wickedest of stepmothers

could be 200 pages shorter,,, still ate tho

what a genuinely clever, innovative, thoughtful, well-written, masterpiece.

First, thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for allowing me the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

It is a pleasure to say that I did genuinely like this book!

Other Evolutions: A Novel is a deep-dive into Alma Alt's family life. She's a Mexican-Jewish Canadian, and we find out early on that she lost her arm in an accident. In the first three parts, Garcia tells us Alma's story from the time she was five-or-so, to the time she she loses her arm, and how that has impacted her life and her relationships with her family and others around her.

Here, there is, unfortunately, a bit of a disconnect. With the fourth part entered the "sci-fi" of it all-- despite it still being about the loss of her arm and her relationships with those around her, it definitely through me off because I became so engrossed with her life I completely forgot how it was supposed to be a sci-fi novel.

Regardless, Garcia writes an excellent family drama; her prose is lovely, and for the first time, I found the lack of quotation marks fine-- I even felt like they added to the stream of consciousness writing. I cried when I grasped what had happened the night of the accident-- and I cried again when Alma finally speaks her mind. The novel itself is such a poignant story of grief, trauma, belonging, and family.

I would like add that the abrupt sci-fi didn't bother me as it might readers who enjoy more sci-fi aspects in their reads. I was surprised at where it went-- I wouldn't have guessed what happened in the last bit of the book if I was staring right at it (which I was).

I would happily recommend this book to those who enjoy speculative fiction, family dramas, introspection like nobody’s business, and stories about identity and what shapes it.

First, thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for the chance to read The Alchemy of Flowers in exchange or an honest review.

All in all, I feel like the blurb was not entirely representative of what the book was about. Whilst it properly hints the background of the main character, this book really is about dealing with infertility, child-loss, and other dark topics that I wasn't expecting-- I can't relate to these topics in a way other readers might. That said, I feel like it needed to be explicitly stated before you venture into this book because it's a topic that comes up on literally every other page.

I was looking for a story with more magical elements, and a greater focus on the fact she could speak to flowers. Instead, it's used more as a way for Eloise, our main character, to get information as the story continue because no one ever tells her anything.

That said, there are positives: the prose was great (no, like, genuinely. It's why I gave the book three stars last night before rereading the blurb once waking up this morning and immediately feeling betrayed because I thought I missed something.), the setting was great, and the French was integrated decently well (and so unlike Emily in Paris).

I don't like the romance; forced proximity has always seemed icky to me given the whole "forced" of it all, but it really didn't help that Eloise has no chemistry with the love interest. I also struggled with Eloise's friends, because their entire relationship is vaguely trauma-bond-eque, but I also admit to having to skim bits and pieces in the second half of the book.

There's also an underlying theme (with like 20 other themes, mind you. Why were there like 10 stories happening at once.) that rubbed me the wrong way. Due to the very frequent mentions of infertility, it felt like I was constantly being told that one's job as a woman was to create, which I understand is how Eloise feels but it was still a little too heavy-handed as the reader.

I also couldn't continue with the audiobook after the awkwardness of the phrasing of "au-to pay" and "my stom-ach tight-en-ing" like five minutes into the audiobook.

All in all, I didn't have a good experience with the book. It took me almost a month to read, and though I can say the pacing sped up in the latter half, the general chaos of themes and plots, the mediocre and chemistry-lacking romance, and the semi-predictable conflict, I can comfortably say this book was not for me.

never let it be said that this man cannot yap. a beautiful experience sheerly due to the audiobook.

"That if someday, if you want to... you'll feel alive again."

Meredith, you absolute asshole. I love you endlessly.

This was an insanely confusing book for me. Olivie Blake, I fear will never have a cohesive opinion of your writing.

Gifted & Talented is such a gorgeous story highlighting the myth of meritocracy whilst satirising Silicon Valley in such an intriguing and special way. The characters are deliciously complicated and fun. I spent the whole novel waiting to see how they woulod react to every little thing.

Blake's writing has always been hit-or-miss. Her style is often rambling, filled digressions between parentheses and em-dashes, and I find that it works quite fabulously when I finally grasped who the narrator was. It, admittedly, took a while. And whilst the beginning had many phrases that had me genuinely wincing ("felt her heart cascade into her vagina" regarding fear was a... unique wording of events. As were a couple other lines.), I think that, to a certain extent, it makes sense when we learn that the character was describing the events to the author. Got to admire Meredith's honesty. Cruelty. Whatever.

Regardless, this book, like her others, shows Blake's focus on characters. The events in this novel mostly span a week, and whilst a lot happens, we learn more about how each character reacts to what they see from an... omniscient author's perspective. It's confusing, and it's fun, and I really enjoyed the characters, no matter how horrible and irritating and unbelievable and downright real they are. Yes, I know it's a contradiction. We're talking about billionaires (?) here. I also want to highlight how insanely terrifying and cool to see urban fantasy/magical realism with a strong focus on STEM.

It has just occurred to me that I haven't even discussed that it's a story about expectations, power, family, and the desperation to prove oneself. This book is genuinely so insane to me. I read it in one long sitting and I think if I did it any other way, I would have ben far more critical of the writing and the prose but I find that (unlike in Masters of Death) it made sense. Icky in the start-- I did consider DNFing it, but I'm very happy to have stayed through.

Complex characters you will be my undoing.